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<\/a>FLORIDA \u2014<\/p>\nFlorida’s 2026 lightning activity has been significantly above historical averages after a quiet start.<\/p>\n
Lightning Data and Safety Specialist Chris Vagasky, with the National Lightning Safety Council, compared data from this year with data from the last 10 years.<\/p>\n
As of late September 2026, Florida has about 28% more lightning strikes than the 10-year average.<\/p>\n
According to the Washington Post, lightning strikes were below average between May and June, with the Miami area specifically seeing 40% to 60% below the average.<\/p>\n
In July, things changed. Lightning strikes were up 12% above the annual average.<\/p>\n
As the year went on, lightning strikes became more frequent, with 58% above the annual average in August and 212% above the annual average in the first half of September.<\/p>\n
Experts have described mid-to-late summer in Florida as \u201csupercharged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local meteorologist Matt Devitt said Florida crossed 1 million strikes early in July 2026 and that the past decade\u2019s average is roughly 2.8 million strikes per year. <\/p>\n
Lightning counts can differ by network and definition, whether they are counting cloud-to-ground strikes, flashes or total lightning events including in-cloud strikes. <\/p>\n
Full-year 2026 numbers will be clearer after the year ends (and in early 2027 reports).<\/p>\n
By mid-to-late August, there were reports that said Florida had exceeded 2.3 million. <\/p>\n
This puts 2026 on pace to finish well above the recent decade average if activity remains elevated.<\/p>\n
Florida remains among the highest for lightning strikes in the U.S. historically.<\/p>\n
2026 started with fewer lightning strikes than the average, but shifted dramatically higher from July onward, leaving the year-to-date total elevated, especially in South Florida. <\/p>\n
Fatalities<\/p>\n
Florida has had six fatalities as a result of lightning strikes in 2026. This is within the state’s typical annual range of roughly four to six. The state is leading the nation this year and has in past years.<\/p>\n
“On average, the state of Florida over the past 10 years sees anywhere between five or six fatalities, so right now, we\u2019re actually around the average of what is usual,” said Will Ulrich, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Florida typically records more lightning fatalities than any other state in the country. One reason, Ulrich said, is the state\u2019s proximity to water.<\/p>\n
“We have both the Atlantic to our east and the Gulf to our west. And during the summer months, we see that increase in moisture that leads to daily showers and thunderstorms,” Ulrich said.<\/p>\n
According to the National Lightning Safety Council, Florida\u2019s lightning deaths this year include:<\/p>\n
A 20-year-old man from Michigan who was walking on a path near downtown Celebration on Sept. 8 when he was struck. His death is the 15th lightning-related fatality in the United States this year, according to the National Lightning Safety Council.A 41-year-old man was jet-skiing near Fort De Soto in Pinellas County on Aug. 29.A 31-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter were killed while walking from their car to their home in Margate on Aug. 23.A 51-year-old man who was in the water at Fort Myers Beach on July 3.An 18-year-old man who was kayaking on a river in Santa Rosa County on May 31.![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09704fdf-733f-46aa-a97b-507899bed8e4.png\")
Lightning safety<\/p>\n
“Lightning education and lightning awareness are working, but unfortunately, people are finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and becoming victims of that lightning,” Ulrich said.<\/p>\n
Lightning deaths nationwide have dropped significantly since the 1990s and 2000s. Ulrich said they are now about half as common as they used to be.<\/p>\n
And while most lightning deaths happen during Florida\u2019s wet season, which runs from May through September, the National Weather Service is also monitoring El Ni\u00f1o, a climate cycle that typically brings wetter conditions and increased storms to Florida during the fall and winter. That means the threat of thunderstorms could continue into what is typically considered Florida\u2019s dry season.<\/p>\n
“We want people to remain aware, not just during the wet season. Lightning can be a threat 365 days out of the year,” Ulrich said.<\/p>\n
Ulrich said thunder is typically audible from 8 to 12 miles away. So, if you are close enough to hear thunder, you may be close enough to be struck by lightning.<\/p>\n
The safest thing you can do is seek shelter immediately in an enclosed building or a hard-topped vehicle. A structure with a roof but no walls is not safe because it only protects you from the rain, not lightning.<\/p>\n
Related stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s lightning activity surges above the annual average in September after quiet start to 2026 FLORIDA \u2014 Florida’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4830,21929,28,30,29,162620,20949,162619,162617,162618,90029,7938,158215,2072,914,158452,164],"class_list":["post-409748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-aug","tag-average","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-historical-average","tag-july","tag-late-september","tag-lightning-activity","tag-lightning-death","tag-lightning-strike","tag-may","tag-national-lightning-safety-council","tag-national-weather-service","tag-state","tag-will-ulrich","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}