Florida has long been regarded as the nation’s lightning capital.
Florida, however, is surprisingly fourth in terms of lightning strikes, after Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.
However, more people die from lightning strikes in Florida than in any other state because of our denser population, year-round outdoor activities, and proximity to water.
How does a lightning bolt form?
Three essential elements combine to make Florida an ideal lightning breeding ground: heat, humidity, and two sea breezes, one off each coast.
Lightning-producing storms start with “lift.” Lift is the process of raising the air above the surface of the earth where humans live so that it cools, condenses, and eventually rains. Lift can occur when a cold front pushes air upward or when the sun heats the earth and causes the air to begin rising. Nonetheless, the primary cause of the abundance of lightning may be the interplay of the sea breezes on the east and west coastlines.
Lift produces ice because the water freezes as it rises into the higher, colder air in the sky. If the ice balls develop large enough to fall to the ground, this could result in hail. However, the environment for lightning is created by the separation of positive and negative charges as the ice forms and moves within the clouds.
A bolt of lightning can reach 50,000°F. Both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-air are possible. However, for obvious reasons, “cloud-to-ground” lightning is the deadliest. Over 3,000 cloud-to-ground strikes and over a million flash floods occur in Florida on average each year.
Florida lightning deaths
In Florida, there are usually seven lightning deaths annually. Ten lightning deaths have occurred in the US this summer in 2024; three of them occurred in Tallahassee, one in Davie, and one in St. Petersburg.
We are awaiting word on whether lightning will be formally held responsible for the death of a 16-year-old in Pembroke Pines on Wednesday, although witness accounts imply that could be the case. That would be Florida’s fourth and the eleventh of 2024.