Expert tips to stay safe and avoid lightning strikes

ST. LOUIS – As climate patterns shift and extreme weather becomes more common, lightning remains one of the most powerful and unpredictable forces of nature.

Lightning is fascinating to watch but extremely dangerous. In the United States, there are about 25 million lightning flashes every year. Each of those 25 million flashes is a potential killer.

Lightning deaths unfortunately increase in the summertime months, particularly July.

“We have seen quite a few fatalities in July. Fortunately, we have not seen quite as many in August, which is very typical. This August, we’ve seen fewer than normal,” John Jensenius, a meteorologist and lightning safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council, said.

The average annual lightning fatality count in the U.S. has hovered around 20 deaths per year.

Fourteen direct lightning strike fatalities have been reported thus far in 2025, one of which was in Missouri.

“About 80% of the fatalities are male. And we believe males are more risk takers than females," Jensenius said. "In terms of the activities, the water-related activities are always the ones that produce the most fatalities. Things like fishing and boating and going to the beach.”

There have been two documented fatalities this year involving beach activities – ranking this the second deadliest activity that led to U.S. lightning deaths. The first activity is fishing.

Many witnesses to these deadly incidents have reported that it wasn't raining at the time of impact and the storms didn't seem to be close by. It's important to note that the lightning threat typically arrives well before the rain.

“You can hear thunder about 10 miles away and lightning can strike about 10 miles from a thunderstorm," Jensenius said. "We do recommend you get in a substantial building; one that has wiring or plumbing or a hard-topped metal vehicle.”

Too many people wait far too long to get to a safe place when thunderstorms approach. Unfortunately, these delayed actions lead to many lightning deaths and injuries.

“The overall odds of being struck by lightning in a given year is about 1/1.7 million. But that’s an average and your actual odds of being struck by lightning depend on your behavior around thunderstorms," Jensenius said.