Lightning Facts page of the Colorado
Lightning Resource Page
Lightning Facts for the World:
Lightning
Capital of the World: Tropical Africa Why? Lightning storms typically occur
in these warm humid
locations many days of the year. (see United States section below to find
out what State in the United States is #1). Click here for
more information.
Lightning Facts for the United States:
Lightning Capital
of the United States: Florida.
More information on why can be found here, and
a table listing state by state (casualties/damage) can be found here.
In an average year, over 22
million cloud to ground lightning flashes hit the contiguous United States
and surrounding coastal waters (R.
Holle/NSSL, personal communication).
Across the United States, most
lightning casualties occur between 12 noon and 4 pm local time. (Curran
et al 1997)
When people are mortally wounded
by a lightning flash, 91% of the time it is only 1 person that is killed. (Curran
et al 1997). On a related topic, most of the time, when lightning
hits the ground and causes casualties to people, usually only 1 person is
affected. (Holle et al 1996)
STORM DATA is estimated to
under report lightning deaths by at least 28%, and injuries requiring hospitalization
by at least 42%. (Lopez
et al, 1993)
It is estimated 307,000 lightning
claims are filed per year across the United States. It is also estimated
lightning causes over $330,000,000 a year across the United States (1996
Dollars) Holle et al 1996.
In a study by Holle
et al 1996. , it was found that there was 367 more times more damage
than what was reported in STORM DATA (Damage was 27 million dollars in
STORM DATA, while it is estimated to be more like 330 million).
National lightning detection
network data in recent years was used to estimate that...
- One lightning casualty occurred for every 86,000 flashes
in the United States,
- One death occurred for every 345,000 flashes,
- One injury occurred for every 114,000 flashes,
Overall, a rate of 7.7 casualties per million people per 100 million flashes
was found for the entire
United States.
(Curran 1997)
Your chances of being struck
by lightning in the United States is 1 in 600,000 (NOAA)
Lightning Facts for Colorado:
Approximately 494,000 cloud to
ground lightning flashes occur in Colorado every year. Colorado ranks 26th
in the nation (Ron Holle, Global Atmospherics, quoted from the Rocky Mountain
News, 30th June, 2001)
In a study in the Denver, Colorado
area, it was found 1 out of every 52 lightning flash results in an insurance
claim, It is estimated nationwide, that 1 claim is filed for every 57 Cloud
to Ground (CG) lightning flashes. (Holle
et al, 1996)
In a study of Colorado lightning
storms, it was found that the first lightning strike usually occurs in the
mountains, around 11 am MDT. (Lopez
et. al., 1990)
In a 1 year study of Northeast Colorado
lightning storms, it was found that the lightning activity on a day to day
basis varied quite extensively, Some days had some flashes, while other days
had many flashes. 123,663 flashes were counted during this year (some
data was missing). The maximum amount of lightning occurs between 4 and 5 pm
mst (21%). As with previous studies, the lightning normally begins around 11am
(~32% of the time). Very little lightning occurred between 3am and 11 am. (Lopez
1986)
Click here to
look at data collected for Colorado in August 1999.
General Lightning Facts: (From NOAA, unless
otherwise noted)
Number of thunderstorms
occurring at any given moment - 2000
Number of lightning strikes
every second - 100
Number of lightning strikes
per day - 8 Million
Number of thunderstorms
in the USA per year - 20 Million
Number of VOLTS in a lightning
flash - 30 million (R. Holle/NSSL -
personal communication)
Number of AMPS in a lightning
flash - between 10,000 and 200,000
The average lightning flash
would light a 100 watt light bulb for 3 months.
Lightning has been documented to
strike over 25 miles away from the actual thunderstorm.
References:
Curran, Holle & Lopez:
1997. Lightning fatalities, injuries and damage reports in the United States,
1959-1994.
NOAA technical Memorandum NWS SR 193. Contact: Nat'l Tech. Info. Service, 5385
Port Royal road, Springfield, VA 22161 to purchase this document.
Holle, Lopez, Arnold & Endres:
1996. Insured lightning caused property damage in three western states.
Journal of Applied Meteorology. Vol 35, #8 Amer. Met, Soc. Boston, MA
Lopez, Holle, Heitkamp,
Boyson, Cherington & Langford: 1993. The underreporting of lightning injuries
and deaths in Colorado. Bull. of the Amer. Met. Soc., Vol 74, #11. Amer. Met,
Soc. Boston, MA
Thunderstorms and Lightning.
1994. NOAA/American Red Cross safety brochure.
Lopez, Otto, Ortiz & Holle,
1990: The lightning characteristics of convective cloud systems in northeast
Colorado. 16th conf on severe local storms, Amer. Met. Soc., Boston,
MA.
Lopez & Holle, 1986: Diurnal and spatial
variability of lightning activity in northeast Colorado and central Florida
during the Summer. Mon. Wea. Rev., Vol 114, Amer. Met, Soc. Boston, MA.
.
Return to the Colorado
Lightning Resource Page
Return to the NWS Pueblo
Homepage