Records and locations
On average, lightning flashes occur on earth about 100 times every second. 80% of these flashes are in-cloud and 20% are cloud-to-ground.[citation needed] For most landmasses, lightning strikes most often during the summer, limiting the strike numbers. The spot with the most lightning lies deep in the mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the small village of Kifuka which has an elevation of 3,200 feet (975 m). Thunderbolts pelt this land, and each year on average, 158 bolts occur over each square kilometer (equivalent to 10 city-blocks square).[76] Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world.[77] The city of Teresina in northern Brazil has the third-highest rate of occurrences of lightning strikes in the world. The surrounding region is referred to as the Chapada do Corisco ("Flash Lightning Flatlands").[78] In the US, Central Florida sees more lightning than any other area. For example, in what is called "Lightning Alley", an area from Tampa, to Orlando, there are as many as 50 strikes per square mile (about 20 per km²) per year.[79][80] The Empire State Building is struck by lightning on average 23 times each year, and was once struck 8 times in 24 minutes.[81]


Lightning as viewed from the Empire State BuildingRoy Sullivan held a Guinness World Record after surviving 7 different lightning strikes across 35 years.[82]

In July 2007, lightning killed up to 30 people when it struck a remote mountain village Ushari Dara in northwestern Pakistan.[83]

Lightning can also strike indoor pools, directed into the pump by electrical circuits from outdoor power poles. Such strikes could potentially kill people who are swimming or walking on wet floors around a pool. In 2000, lightning killed two boys in an outdoor pool in Florida.[84]

A single lightning strike can have a potential of a billion volts and deliver 100,000 amperes of current. If a bolt directly hits a marine animal swimming on the surface, it will undoubtedly hurt or kill the animal. Lightning strikes have killed or injured people on the surface more than 30 yards away.[85]

On 31 October 2005, sixty-eight dairy cows, all in full milk, died on a farm at Fernbrook on the Waterfall Way near Dorrigo, New South Wales after being struck by lightning. Three others were paralysed for several hours but they later made a full recovery. The cows were sheltering under a tree when it was struck by lightning and the electricity spread onto the surrounding soil killing the animals.[86]

Lightning rarely strikes the open ocean, although some sea regions are lightning "hot spots." Winter storms passing off the east coast of the United States often erupt with electrical activity when they cross the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.[85]The Gulf Stream, for example, has roughly as many lightning strikes as the southern plains of the USA.


[edit] Lightning detection
Lightning discharges generate a wide range of electromagnetic radiations, including radio-frequency pulses. The times at which a pulse from a given lightning discharge arrive at several receivers can be used to locate the source of the discharge. The United States federal government has constructed a nation-wide grid of such lightning detectors, allowing lightning discharges to be tracked in real time throughout the continental U.S.[87][88]

In addition to ground-based lightning detection, several instruments aboard satellites have been constructed to observe lightning distribution. These include the Optical Transient Detector (OTD), aboard OrbView-1 satellite launched on April 3, 1995, and the subsequent Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard TRMM launched on November 28, 1997.[89][90][91]

For more information, see Lightning detector.

[edit] Most spectacular lightning strike incidences
Several spectacular lightning incidences have occurred, either with people killed or great damage caused. The following incomplete list shows some cases:

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1902: A lightning strike damaged the upper section of the Eiffel Tower, requiring the reconstruction of its top[92]
December 8th, 1963: Pan Am Flight 214 crashed as result of a lightning strike, and 81 people were killed.
July 1970, the central mast of the Orlunda radio transmitter collapsed after a lightning strike destroyed its basement insulator.
December 24th, 1971: LANSA Flight 508 crashed as a result of lightning in Peru, with 91 people killed.[93]
August 2004: Lightning strike killed 31 jersey cows sheltering under a tree in Denmark.[94]