The Great Plains, including parts of Texas, has become an epicenter for severe storm activity, according to a new report.
Environmental insights firm AEM just released its annual lightning report, which uses detection technology that recorded nearly 430 million lightning pulses within 88.4 million lightning flashes across the U.S. in 2025. That represented a 9.8% uptick from 2024.
Although Oklahoma had the highest lightning concentration in AEM’s data, Texas topped the charts in volume and storm intensity.
As described by AEM, a lightning pulse is a surge of an electric current in lightning — usually accompanied by a flash of light — while a lightning flash is a collection of pulses.
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With about 73 flashes per square mile, Oklahoma had the highest concentration. The Sooner State even topped Florida, which has traditionally been the “lightning concentration capital,” according to AEM. Louisiana and Kansas had the next highest concentrations.
The change signals a broader surge in lightning activity across the Great Plains, according to the report.
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“Oklahoma’s rise to the top of our lightning rankings represents a significant shift in 2025’s weather patterns compared with past years,” Elizabeth DiGangi, a lightning scientist at AEM, said in a news release. “Because [Earth Networks Total Lightning Network] captures lightning activity with exceptional coverage and precision, we can see how lightning patterns are evolving, with the Great Plains emerging as an increasingly active region for high-impact storms.”
Meanwhile, there were more than 13 million lightning flashes recorded in the Lone Star State, exceeding its historical average by 1.3 million.
Texas also registered the most “dangerous thunderstorm alerts,” an additional indicator of storm severity derived from lightning behavior. This metric flags periods of exceptionally intense lightning rates associated with severe storms.
The Great Plains accounted for roughly half of the top 10 states with the most intense lightning storms, signifying the region’s reputation as a severe weather hotspot.
Texas currently holds the world record for the longest bold of lightning. A 515-mile bolt stretched from East Texas to near Kansas City, Mo., in 2017, according to World Meteorological Organization.
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This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.