Lightning Risk by State & County

Ranked by FEMA National Risk Index lightning hazard score · code LTNG

Lightning risk reflects electrical discharges from storms that ignite fires and cause casualties. FEMA's National Risk Index scores each county's lightning hazard from its expected annual loss, annualized event frequency, and exposed population. Broward County, Florida currently leads the nation with a lightning score of 100.0 and $12M in expected annual loss. Florida, Texas, Colorado account for much of the highest-rated lightning risk in this dataset.

Read the full lightning risk guide — how FEMA scores it and how to prepare →

Lightning Risk by State

#StateExpected Ann. LossAvg. ScoreRatingCounties Rated
1Florida$162M
85.9
Very High 67 of 67
2Texas$128M
46.3
Medium 254 of 254
3Colorado$85M
64.0
High 64 of 64
4Georgia$72M
51.5
Medium 159 of 159
5North Carolina$59M
65.7
High 100 of 100
6Pennsylvania$55M
72.0
High 67 of 67
7Alabama$51M
73.1
High 67 of 67
8Louisiana$49M
66.0
High 64 of 64
9Ohio$48M
61.3
High 88 of 88
10Tennessee$44M
59.3
Medium 95 of 95
11Missouri$43M
49.0
Medium 115 of 115
12New York$43M
67.1
High 62 of 62
13Virginia$41M
41.6
Medium 133 of 133
14Utah$39M
69.7
High 29 of 29
15Illinois$37M
44.7
Medium 102 of 102
16Wisconsin$37M
58.9
Medium 72 of 72
17South Carolina$36M
71.3
High 46 of 46
18Kentucky$34M
46.9
Medium 120 of 120
19Mississippi$31M
60.1
High 82 of 82
20New Jersey$31M
84.4
Very High 21 of 21
21Arkansas$30M
58.6
Medium 75 of 75
22Michigan$29M
53.8
Medium 83 of 83
23Arizona$29M
85.7
Very High 15 of 15
24Kansas$29M
32.6
Low 105 of 105
25California$26M
54.1
Medium 58 of 58
26Minnesota$25M
32.7
Low 87 of 87
27Indiana$25M
40.5
Medium 92 of 92
28Maryland$22M
66.5
High 24 of 24
29New Mexico$21M
69.0
High 33 of 33
30Nebraska$18M
28.5
Low 93 of 93
31Hawaii$17M
75.0
High 5 of 5
32Iowa$17M
28.3
Low 99 of 99
33Oklahoma$17M
39.7
Low 77 of 77
34Massachusetts$15M
72.2
High 14 of 14
35Montana$15M
41.0
Medium 56 of 56
36Wyoming$13M
57.0
Medium 23 of 23
37Idaho$13M
35.5
Low 44 of 44
38West Virginia$13M
45.2
Medium 55 of 55
39Maine$11M
70.5
High 16 of 16
40Oregon$11M
43.2
Medium 36 of 36
41New Hampshire$10M
75.8
High 10 of 10
42Washington$10M
34.7
Low 39 of 39
43Connecticut$7M
70.3
High 9 of 9
44Vermont$6M
53.5
Medium 14 of 14
45South Dakota$6M
16.4
Very Low 66 of 66
46Nevada$4M
35.4
Low 17 of 17
47North Dakota$3M
12.7
Very Low 53 of 53
48Rhode Island$3M
66.5
High 5 of 5
49District of Columbia$2M
96.6
Very High 1 of 1
50Delaware$2M
79.2
High 3 of 3
51Alaska$1M
8.8
Very Low 30 of 30

States ranked by total expected annual lightning losses; the average score is the mean over all counties, counting unrated counties as zero.

Riskiest Counties for Lightning

#CountyStateLightning ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1Broward CountyFL
100.0
Very High 99.35 / yr$12M
2Honolulu CountyHI
100.0
Very High 76.82 / yr$13M
3Harris CountyTX
99.9
Very High 74.62 / yr$9M
4Miami-Dade CountyFL
99.9
Very High 97.70 / yr$8M
5El Paso CountyTX
99.9
Very High 49.36 / yr$7M
6Palm Beach CountyFL
99.8
Very High 96.31 / yr$9M
7Lee CountyFL
99.8
Very High 101.95 / yr$8M
8Pinellas CountyFL
99.8
Very High 94.42 / yr$9M
9Hillsborough CountyFL
99.7
Very High 97.58 / yr$8M
10Jefferson CountyTX
99.7
Very High 78.84 / yr$6M
11Montgomery CountyTX
99.7
Very High 69.94 / yr$9M
12Jefferson CountyCO
99.7
Very High 57.73 / yr$11M
13Sarasota CountyFL
99.6
Very High 96.18 / yr$5M
14Polk CountyFL
99.6
Very High 95.66 / yr$6M
15Coconino CountyAZ
99.6
Very High 44.38 / yr$5M
16Orange CountyFL
99.5
Very High 88.08 / yr$6M
17Jefferson CountyAL
99.5
Very High 68.97 / yr$5M
18Navajo CountyAZ
99.5
Very High 47.60 / yr$3M
19Collier CountyFL
99.4
Very High 104.56 / yr$4M
20Brevard CountyFL
99.4
Very High 73.00 / yr$6M
21Fort Bend CountyTX
99.4
Very High 74.29 / yr$7M
22St. Louis CountyMO
99.3
Very High 52.97 / yr$5M
23Volusia CountyFL
99.3
Very High 74.86 / yr$5M
24Douglas CountyCO
99.3
Very High 58.57 / yr$8M
25Calcasieu ParishLA
99.2
Very High 80.82 / yr$4M

Showing the top 25 seeded counties for lightning risk.