I’m a meteorologist whose research focuses on understanding lightning behavior. That complicates lightning safety and protection efforts. lightning strikes have varied widely, from about 25 million a year, a number meteorologists have cited since the 1990s, to 40 million a year, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year, insurance pays about US$1 billion in claims for lightning damage, and around 4 million acres of land burn in lightning-caused wildfires. In the United States, an average of 28 people were killed by lightning every year between 20. Lightning kills or injures about 250,000 people around the world every year, most frequently in developing countries, where many people work outside without lightning-safe shelters nearby. It is hotter than the surface of the sun and delivers thousands of times more electricity than the power outlet that charges your smartphone. Lightning flashes in thunderstorms at least 60 times per second somewhere around the planet, sometimes even near the North Pole.Įach giant spark of electricity travels through the atmosphere at 200,000 miles per hour. A distant thunderstorm, alive with lightning, is making itself known. You hear a sharp crack, like the sound of a batter hitting a home run, or a low rumble reminiscent of a truck driving down the highway. It’s been a warm day, maybe even a little humid, and the tall clouds in the distance remind you of cauliflower.