Florida Weather Facts
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Florida is the Lightning Capital of the USA
Florida leads the nation in lightning strikes. Our geography increases the frequency of thunderstorms and therefore lightning. Stroke lightning the direct discharge of an electrical charge between the atmosphere and the object of earth, also known as a cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning strike. Lightning is responsible for more weather-related deaths in Florida than all other weather hazards combined. Florida has the highest number of lightning casualties of all 50 states. The air in a lightning stroke is heated to 50,000 degrees F. It is this rapid heating of the air that produces the shock wave that results in thunder. A ground stroke can produce somewhere between 100 million to a 1 billion volts of electricity. The average peak current in a cloud-to-ground lightning stroke is 100,000 amperes. The estimated diameter of a lightning channel is about 1 inch. The length of an average cloud-to-ground channel can range from 2 to 10 miles. You can tell how far away a lightning strike is by counting the seconds between seeing the lightning flash and hearing the thunder; 5 seconds approximates 1 mile of distance. If you see a flash and instantly hear thunder, the lightning strike was very close. Take shelter immediately. Lightning is capable of traveling 10 miles away, and has been observed as far as 25 miles away.
Florida leads the nation in lightning strikes. Our geography increases the frequency of thunderstorms and therefore lightning. Stroke lightning the direct discharge of an electrical charge between the atmosphere and the object of earth, also known as a cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning strike. Lightning is responsible for more weather-related deaths in Florida than all other weather hazards combined. Florida has the highest number of lightning casualties of all 50 states. The air in a lightning stroke is heated to 50,000 degrees F. It is this rapid heating of the air that produces the shock wave that results in thunder. A ground stroke can produce somewhere between 100 million to a 1 billion volts of electricity. The average peak current in a cloud-to-ground lightning stroke is 100,000 amperes. The estimated diameter of a lightning channel is about 1 inch. The length of an average cloud-to-ground channel can range from 2 to 10 miles. You can tell how far away a lightning strike is by counting the seconds between seeing the lightning flash and hearing the thunder; 5 seconds approximates 1 mile of distance. If you see a flash and instantly hear thunder, the lightning strike was very close. Take shelter immediately. Lightning is capable of traveling 10 miles away, and has been observed as far as 25 miles away.
Florida Climate Center, Weather.gov, FloridaDisaster.org
