Distribution of lightning

The distribution of lightning, or the incidence of individual strikes, in any particular place is highly variable, but lightning does have an underlying spatial distribution. High quality lightning data has only recently become available, but the data indicates that lightning occurs on average 44 (± 5) times every second over the entire Earth, making a total of about 1.4 billion flashes per year. The distribution of lightning, or the incidence of individual strikes, in any particular place is highly variable, but lightning does have an underlying spatial distribution. High quality lightning data has only recently become available, but the data indicates that lightning occurs on average 44 (± 5) times every second over the entire Earth, making a total of about 1.4 billion flashes per year. The lightning flash rate averaged over the Earth for intra-cloud (IC) + cloud-to-cloud (CC) to cloud-to-ground (CG) is in the ratio: (IC+CC):CG = 3:1. The base of the negative region in a cloud is normally at roughly the elevation where freezing occurs. The closer this region is to the ground, the more likely cloud-to-ground strikes are. In the tropics, where the freeze zone is higher, the (IC+CC):CG ratio is about 9:1. In Norway, at latitude 60° N, where the freezing elevation is lower, the (IC+CC):CG ratio is about 1:1. The map on the right shows that lightning is not distributed evenly around the planet. About 70% of lightning occurs on land in the Tropics, where the majority of thunderstorms occur. The North and South Poles and the areas over the oceans have the fewest lightning strikes. The place where lightning occurs most often (according to the data from 2004 to 2005) is near the small village of Kifuka in the mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the elevation is around 1,700 metres (5,600 ft). This region received 158 lightning strikes per square kilometer (409 per sq mi) a year. Above the Catatumbo river, which feeds Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, Catatumbo lightning flashes several times per minute and this place has the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometer in the world. Malaysia has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world, after Indonesia and Colombia. The city of Teresina in northern Brazil has the third-highest rate of occurrences of lightning strikes in the world. The surrounding region is referred to as the Chapada do Corisco ('Flash Lightning Flatlands').. In the United States, the west coast has the fewest lightning strikes, and Florida sees more lightning than any other area; In 2018, 14 Florida counties ranked in the top 15 counties in the United States for having the highest lightning density. Florida has the largest number of recorded strikes during summer. Much of Florida is a peninsula, bordered by the ocean on three sides with a subtropical climate. The result is the nearly daily development of clouds that produce thunderstorms. For example, 'Lightning Alley'—an area from Tampa to Orlando—experiences an extremely high density of lightning strikes. As of 2007, there were as many as 50 strikes per square mile (about 20 per km2) per year. In their 2018 Annual Lightning Report, Vaisala reported there were as many as 24 strikes per square mile (about 9 per km2) per year in Florida. The Empire State Building in New York City is struck by lightning on average 23 times each year, and was once struck 8 times in 24 minutes.