“AEM, the essential source for environmental insights, today released its 2025 US Lightning Report, revealing that Oklahoma has dethroned Florida to become the nation’s lightning concentration capital. With approximately 73 flashes per square mile, Oklahoma displaced the state that has traditionally dominated this ranking, signaling a broader surge in lightning activity across the Great Plains. Overall, AEM’s Earth Networks Total Lightning Network® detected nearly 430 million lightning pulses within 88.4 million lightning flashes across the US in 2025, a 9.8 percent increase from the prior year,” says AEM in a press release on Florida getting zapped from the top spot.

“While Oklahoma led in lightning concentration, Texas dominated in sheer volume and storm intensity. The state recorded more than 13 million lightning flashes, exceeding its historical average by 1.3 million. As an additional indicator of storm severity derived from lightning behavior, Texas also registered the highest number of Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts (DTAs), a proprietary AEM metric that flags periods of exceptionally intense lightning rates associated with severe storms and provides an early signal of rapidly intensifying thunderstorm activity. Overall, the Great Plains accounted for roughly half of the top 10 states with the most intense lightning storms, underscoring the region’s reputation as a severe weather hotspot,” the fucking electrifying statement continued.