ORLANDO, Fla. – In a notable shift, Florida no longer holds the title of the lightning capital of the United States, a status it had maintained for several years.

This year, Florida’s Four Corners region has relinquished its claim to the title, with Shady Grove, Oklahoma, taking the lead for 2025. This marks a significant change, as it is the first time in four years that a city outside of Florida has claimed the top spot.

Shady Grove’s ascension to the top is attributed to an intense concentration of lightning strikes over the past year, with the area experiencing 3,005 lightning events per square mile. This high density of lightning activity was enough to surpass any Florida contender.

This development is part of a larger trend, as lightning activity across the United States has reached unprecedented levels, marking an eight-year high.

The 2025 Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report highlights this spike, noting that the U.S. experienced a total of 252 million lightning strikes last year, which represents a significant 20% increase from the previous year.

What’s especially alarming is how early the lightning season peaked. The most active lightning day of 2025 occurred on April 5, well ahead of the traditional May-to-September storm season.

On that single day, more than 3 million lightning strikes were recorded across the lower 48 states as 157 severe storms, including 21 tornadoes in the Southeast, ripped through the region.

While Florida did not take the top city title this year, when adjusted for size, Florida still ranks number one in lightning density, averaging 305 lightning events per square mile.

Oklahoma followed, then Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

This uptick in lightning is more than a weather statistic, it’s a reminder of how much of a safety concern lightning can be.

According to the National Weather Service’s lightning fatality data, there were 20 confirmed lightning deaths in the U.S. in 2025, and Florida unfortunately led the nation with three of those deaths.

These stats reflect how serious and life-threatening lightning can be, especially for people outdoors during stormy weather.

Speaking of being outdoors, Vaisala also tracks lighting around popular football stadiums and the delays they cause.

Lightning forced at least 11 confirmed delays across NFL and NCAA football games last year.

Florida stadiums remain among the most lightning-impacted locations in the country. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens logged the most lightning warning time nationwide, followed closely by stadiums in Baton Rouge, Tampa, and Tallahassee.

These numbers reinforce that while Florida may have lost the lightning capital crown, it remains on the front lines of lightning risk.