Why is tampa the lightning capital

Call the fire department! Again, the most common place for lightning-caused fires in a home is in the attic, but they can start anywhere the lightning has traveled. Some fires inside the walls and attic may not be immediately apparent and not easily accessible. You should also watch for falling debris from damaged chimneys, shingles or walls.

You will want to contact a local roof expert to inspect your roof and attic to make sure everything is intact and no repairs need to be made. If you happen to be touching one of these wires or pipes think telephone, computer or shower you can be electrocuted. Lightning is a master of trickery and can do some pretty strange things.

Just remember though, the odds of you being killed by lightning inside a building during a thunderstorm are considerably worse than winning the Powerball lottery.

Lightning has no mass and defies the laws of gravity. It will zig-zag all over the place by going up, down, sideways, forwards and backwards. It travels great distances, sometimes as much as 70 miles! Adding to its mystique, lightning will travel along the path of least resistance, which can span hundreds of feet along conductive surfaces not quite visible to you or I.

Think about what runs into and all around the inside of your house. In the United States, lightning density varies by year. Last year, the United States averaged far less than usual. This may have contributed to fewer deaths caused directly by lightning last year, too. Over the last five years, Oklahoma and Florida have been neck and neck in lightning flashes per square mile each year.

Chris Vagasky with Vaisala tweeted their findings that suggest Oklahoma wins the title of America's lightning capital. Over the last 5 years, OKwx has more total lightning per square kilometer than FLwx. It is important to note that Vaisala owns and operates their own lightning detection network that detects cloud-to-cloud lightning along with cloud-to-ground lightning. For simplicity, we are using the term lightning flashes to include the total number of lightning events over each state.

By: Emily McCain. Why Florida "It's simple really. We have more lightning, and we are fourth in population," NWS says. In , 20 people died from lightning strikes. In , 17 people were killed. National Weather Service. Copyright Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Report a typo. Sign up for the Sarah's Walking Club Newsletter and receive up to date information.