3. Lightning’s Surprising Frequency
Many people would believe that lightning is a quite rare event, maybe occurring a few times during a strong rainstorm. Still, the worldwide frequency of lightning strikes is shockingly high. About 100 times every single second, lightning strikes the ground of Earth. That comes to around 3 billion strikes annually and almost 8 million strikes every day!
The consistent atmospheric conditions that enable lightning generation explain this great frequency. There are over 2,000 thunderstorms active globally at any one moment, each maybe generating hundreds or thousands of lightning strikes.
Fascinatingly, lightning does not hit exactly everywhere. Certain places, sometimes referred to as lightning hotspots, see many more hits than others. With some sites averaging 250 lightning flashes per square kilometre year, the region where Colombia meets Venezuela in South America has greater lightning activity than practically anywhere else on Earth.