Tracking lightning strikes across 2020

Mother Nature may have taken it easy on us in some ways this year. We saw a drier than average end to the year, and a pretty mild severe weather season. We did see, however, some impressive storms make their way across mid-Missouri.

For yet another year in a row, Missouri made the list of top 10 states who saw the most lightning throughout the 2020 year. We ranked middle of the line, with most of the top ten states falling in the Midwest. Here in Missouri, we saw fewer lightning strikes this past year than we did in 2019. In the United States as a whole, we averaged about 32% fewer lightning strikes in May and June alone, which is when we normally see a lot of storms, especially here in the Midwest.