The Lightning Capital of North America

The Tampa Bay area receives more lightning strikes per square mile than anywhere else in North America, earning the stretch of central Florida the nickname Lightning Alley. The state averages around 1.4 million lightning strikes a year, fueled by the daily collision of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic meeting over the Florida peninsula. Florida leads the nation in both lightning strikes and lightning-related fatalities, and on a summer afternoon in Tampa, an afternoon thunderstorm is practically guaranteed.