Live Lightning Strike Map for the Last 24 Hours
Need the live tool first? Open the lightning strike map last 24 hours to see recent US activity, search your area, and jump into state or city maps. This article explains how to read that data.
Why a 24-Hour Lightning Map Matters
A recent lightning map adds situational awareness: it shows where convection developed, how clusters changed, and which areas had repeated detections. It cannot prove an area is safe or tell you whether to shelter in a specific number of minutes. Use official forecasts and warnings for planning; if thunder is audible, go indoors.
Live US State Lightning Maps (Last 24 Hours)
Browse the latest 24-hour activity from the live last-24-hours map hub or any US state. Each state page shows a flash-detection count, the time of the most recent reported flash, and an interactive map of recent NOAA GOES East/West GLM detections:
- Florida lightning map — typically the most active state in the country
- Louisiana lightning map
- Mississippi lightning map
- Alabama lightning map
- Oklahoma lightning map
- Texas lightning map
- Arkansas lightning map
- Georgia lightning map
- Iowa lightning map
- Colorado lightning map
- View all 50 state lightning maps →
How to Read the Map
- Counter: total flashes detected in the bounding box of the state in the last 24 hours.
- Last strike: timestamp of the most recent detection in the area.
- Map markers: up to 50 most recent flashes plotted on an OpenStreetMap base layer. Brighter markers are more recent; markers fade with age over the 24-hour window.
- Updated: timestamp of the last data refresh. The page polls the public stats endpoint every 60 seconds.
What Counts as a "Strike" in This Map
NOAA GOES East/West GLM detects optical signals associated with lightning flashes, including activity within clouds and activity that may involve the ground. The 24-hour count represents processed optical flashes, not a guaranteed count of ground impacts. A plotted marker does not classify that flash as cloud-to-ground.
For the technical details on how the GLM sensor distinguishes lightning optical pulses from background sunlight at 500 frames per second, see our deep-dive on how GOES-19 GLM detects lightning from space.
Tool View vs NOAA GLM Research Data
Lightning Tracker turns recent NOAA GOES East/West GLM observations into state and city summaries for quick public use. Researchers who need the original scientific products should start with the official NOAA GOES-R GLM documentation.
Consumer maps simplify processed optical flashes into markers and counters. They do not preserve every field in the source product, classify each marker as a ground strike, or provide an all-clear. Review the Lightning Tracker methodology and safety limits, and go indoors whenever thunder is audible.
Reviewing Yesterday's Storms
The 24-hour view is also useful retrospectively: did that storm yesterday actually develop the way the forecast suggested? Was the squall line as electrically active as it looked on radar? The strike count and recent-strike feed for each state give a quantified answer to those qualitative impressions.
For a longer historical view, check the Last 7 days figure on each state page. For sensor background, see NOAA GOES-R GLM; for Lightning Tracker's source, cadence, and limitations, see the methodology.
Get Lightning Alerts on Your Phone
A 24-hour map is great for review, but for live safety you want push notifications when qualifying lightning activity is detected near you. Open the lightning alert tool for saved-radius setup and delivery limits.