NEED TO KNOW

Last year, Florida was dethroned as the lightning strike capital of the United States, according to a new report

“The shift signals a broader surge in lightning activity across the Great Plains,” environmental consulting firm AEM said in a statement

There are a number of reasons for the shift, including the fact that Florida had a drier than average year

There is a new lightning capital in the United States.

Oklahoma had the highest concentration of lightning strikes last year at 73 flashes per square mile, according to the 2025 lightning report from environmental consulting firm AEM, which used data collected from 1,8000 censors across the country.

Florida previously held the title for highest concentration of lightning strikes in the U.S.

“The shift signals a broader surge in lightning activity across the Great Plains,” AEM said in a statement.

Elizabeth DiGangi, a lightning scientist, told USA Today that it’s too early to say “whether this is part of a larger trend,” noting that above-average rainfall and plenty of severe weather in Oklahoma last year meant “there were simply more thunderstorms producing more flashes.”

Meanwhile, Florida experienced a drier than usual year.

Kay County, located in northern Oklahoma, was the “most lightning-dense county” of 2025 at 123.4 flashes per square mile, according to AEM’s report — and there were a total of 88.4 million lightning strikes across the U.S., a 9.8% increase from 2024.

Meanwhile, Texas saw the “biggest surge of lightning” in 2025 at 1.3 million flashes above average, also taking the “top spot in storm intensity” for the year.

The Lone Star State had “twice as many dangerous thunderstorms as the next highest state” in 2025 with 9,103 Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts, according to the report. That topped its number from the previous year of 6,893.

As for the “most lightning intense day” of 2025? That was June 15, when 929,016 flashes were recorded across the U.S.

Additionally, AEM said “lightning peaked on days that coincided with billion-dollar disasters.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“For states ranging from as far south as Arkansas and Texas and as far north as Wisconsin, lightning peaked when they encountered their most costly storms and tornado outbreaks,” the firm said.

Read the original article on People