Lightning strikes the Earth 1,800 times at any moment.

Lightning puts 10 million tons of nitrogen into the Earth each year.

The Earth has 100 lightning strikes per second - 3.6 trillion per year!

The Earth has 2,000 thunderstorms at any one time!

Without thunderstorms, the earth would lose its electric charge in less than 1 hour.

Rwanda, Africa is the lightning capitol of the world, receiving nearly 2.5 times the amount of lightning as Florida
(Source: Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Satellite, 2002)

Florida is the Lightning Capital of the U.S.

Central Florida, from Tampa to Titusville is "Lightning Alley" in the U.S.!

The central California coast has the least lightning activity in the U.S.

Lightning is the #2 weather killer in the U.S.

Lightning is the #1 weather killer in Florida - more than all other weather deaths combined!

Florida leads the U.S. in lightning deaths, injuries, and casualties

Texas is #2.

Pennsylvania leads the U.S. in lightning damage.

The U.S. has 20 Million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes each year - up to 70 Million lightning flashes aloft are also counted!

The U.S. has 100,000 thunderstorms per year.

The Odds Of An Individual Being Struck By Lightning Each Year In The U.S. Is About 300,000 To 1

Lightning injures many more than it kills.

Lightning often causes life-long severe debilitating injuries.

Lightning kills about 100 people in the U.S. each year.

Lightning injures about 1000 people in the U.S. each year.

In the U.S., lightning kills more than Hurricanes and Tornadoes, combined. Only floods kill more!

Lightning causes $5 Billion of economic impact in the U.S. each year.

Most lightning strikes occur either at the beginning or end of a storm.

Lightning is only 1 inch in diameter.

Lightning has been observed over 100 miles long.

An average lightning flash has the energy of a 1-kiloton explosion.

Lightning voltage can be up to 300 million volts.

Lightning current averages 30,000 amps, but ranges from 10,000 to 200,000 amps - 100 To 1,000 times as strong as a steel welder.

Corded telephones are not safe and should not be used during thunderstorms. The usual way that current enters a telephone is through the wire. Cloud-to-ground flashes tend to hit tall objects such as utility poles. When a pole is struck, its current enters a building through the wiring, then to the phone, and then straight to your head. Cell phones and cordless phones are safer, but be sure to stand away from the cordless phone's base as a strong current can possibly arc a few feet from the base to the handset. There is still a risk of ear damage from loud static and "pops" associated with cell phone and cordless phone use during thunderstorms.
(from lightningstorm.com)

Lightning damage to home electronics usually occurs when lightning strikes to nearby utility poles or wires, then enters the building through power, phone, and TV wires. For direct or indirect hits, the only sure way is to pull the power, phone, and cable plugs on sensitive electronics before thunderstorms threaten. Never touch wires during a thunderstorm, even to unplug your equipment. People have been electrocuted while unplugging their electronics during thunderstorms. Better your computer than you!
(from lightningstorm.com)

Jul 10, 1926: Lightning Exploded A Navy Ammunition Depot, Mount Hope NJ. 19 People Died, 38 Wounded, And Cost $81 Million To Rebuild.

May 6, 1937: Hindenberg Airship Destroyed By An Electrostatic Discharge 36 People Died.

June 1998: Lightning Struck An Outdoor Rock Concert With 35,000 People In Baltimore, MD. 13 People Were Injured, Despite The Installed Lightning Rods.

July 1998: 5 Firefighters Were Injured When Lightning Struck Their Firetruck In Las Vegas, NV.

October 1998: Lightning Killed 11 Soccer Players In Congo, Africa (All On The Same Team)

Dec. 8, 1963: A Pan Am 707 crashed in flames in a Maryland field in 1963 after lightning hit the Boeing jet and ignited a wing fuel tank. All 81 people aboard were killed.

The NTSB believes lightning caused the in-flight explosion of an Iranian Air Force 747 in May 1976 near Madrid, Spain.

May 9, 2001: HONG KONG –According to media reports a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 was struck three times by lightning close to Chek Lap Kok airport today. The airline confirmed the event and said a cockpit window was damaged. Nobody was hurt in this incident. Cathay Pacific Flight 250 from London Heathrow with 245 passengers on board was still approaching the Hong Kong airport when suddenly the series of lightning strikes hit the Jumbo Jet. One of the lightning strikes cracked the right side cockpit window, said the airline. The crew informed the control tower at Chek Lap Kok and then safely landed the aircraft.

Florida meteorologist Mike Lyons tells WPBFChannel.com in West Palm Beach a man has reported seeing what only about 1 percent of the population will ever see -- the rarest form of lightning called ball lightning. "It was a bright, glowing orange ball about the size of a basketball," the man said in the report. "It entered my house through the glass in the front door. It went right past me or possibly even through me into the living room. Then, it left the house through a large window where it hit a tree in the backyard." Lyons says ball lightning has "scared the pants off folks" as the bright spheres seem to appear out of nowhere. They've been seen in buildings, coming through solid walls and in airplanes. Lyons says science may never be able to explain ball lightning -- all researchers know is that it's real.

LONDON - Two women were killed by a bolt of lightning in Hyde Park when their underwired bras acted as conductors, a coroner said Wednesday. "I think this was a tragic case, a pure act of God," coroner Paul Knapman told an inquest into the deaths. He recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. The two women, Anuban Bell, 24, and Sunee Whitworth, 39, had been sheltering under a tree in the park during a thunderstorm. Pathologist Dr Iain West said both women were wearing underwired bras and had been left with burn marks on their chests from the electrical current that passed through their bodies. Death would have been instant, he said. The bodies were not discovered until the following day because passers-by thought they were vagrants.