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Lightning

Guide

The Lightning API provides current, forecasted, and historical lightning strike data by geographic area.

For full request and response field details, see Lightning Parameters.

Current data

Endpoint	Description
Strikes by bounding box	Current strikes within a bounding box
Strikes by point and radius	Current strikes within a distance radius

Forecasts

Endpoint	Description
Forecasts by point	Lightning probability forecasts

Historical data

Endpoint	Description
Historical by point and radius	Historical daily strike data

---

Lightning strikes by time interval and bounding box

Code
https://{baseUrl}/lightning/{version}/{time interval}min/geoposition/points{.format}?apikey={API key}&upperLeft={lat,lon}&lowerRight={lat,lon}&offset={response offset}

Example

Code
https://api.accuweather.com/lightning/v1/30min/geoposition/points.geojson?apikey={API key}&upperLeft=38.520,-97.553&lowerRight=36.184,-91.445

Code
{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Point",
                "coordinates": [
                    -92.63433074951172,
                    37.5099983215332
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "id": "6a7e0060-ee7b-5568-9d45-c54d97a5d58a",
                "date": "2025-07-17T16:45:52",
                "sourceId": 86,
                "strikeType": "cg",
                "peakCurrent": 173
            }
        },
        {...}
    ]
}

Lightning strikes by time interval, point, and distance radius

Code
https://{baseUrl}/lightning/{version}/{time interval}min/geoposition/radius{.format}?apikey={API key}&q={lat,lon}&distanceRadius={radius}&offset={response offset}

Example

Code
https://api.accuweather.com/lightning/v1/15min/geoposition/radius.geojson?apikey={API key}&q=41.70832,-74.73312&distanceRadius=25

Code
{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Point",
                "coordinates": [
                    -74.44090270996094,
                    41.79957962036133
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "id": "592110c6-dfe0-5d55-b00f-ffef87993263",
                "date": "2025-07-31T15:45:36",
                "sourceId": 84,
                "strikeType": "",
                "peakCurrent": null
            }
        },
        {...}
    ]
}

---

Forecasts by point

Code
https://{baseUrl}/lightning/{version}/forecasts/geoposition?apikey={API key}&q={lat,lon}

Example

Code
https://api.accuweather.com/lightning/v1/forecasts/geoposition?apikey={API key}&q=38.63,-90.2

Code
{
    "latitude": 38.63,
    "longitude": -90.2,
    "initDateTime": "2026-03-30T20:10:00Z",
    "forecasts": [
        {
            "startDateTime": "2026-03-30T20:10:00Z",
            "startEpochTime": 1774901400,
            "probability": 0.0
        },
        {
            "startDateTime": "2026-03-30T20:20:00Z",
            "startEpochTime": 1774902000,
            "probability": 0.0
        },
        {
            "startDateTime": "2026-03-30T20:30:00Z",
            "startEpochTime": 1774902600,
            "probability": 0.0
        },
        {...}
    ]
}

---

Historical daily lightning strikes by point and distance radius

Code
https://{baseUrl}/lightning/{version}/historical/geoposition/radius?apikey={API key}&q={lat,lon}&distanceRadius={radius}&startDate={mm/dd/yyyy}&strikeType={ic or cg}&offset={response offset}&details={boolean}

Example

Code
https://api.accuweather.com/lightning/v1/historical/geoposition/radius?apikey={API key}&q=28.37,-81.57&distanceRadius=20&startDate=10/27/2025

Code
{
    "pageCount": -1,
    "resultsCount": 4933,
    "lightningSummary": {
        "positiveStrikes": 487,
        "negativeStrikes": 732,
        "closestStrike": {
            "type": "FeatureCollection",
            "features": [
                {
                    "type": "Feature",
                    "geometry": {
                        "type": "Point",
                        "coordinates": [
                            -81.57269287109375,
                            28.369831085205078
                        ]
                    },
                    "properties": {
                        "id": "66d48bf7-76f4-523e-a0a4-6b8fbd325ca2",
                        "date": "2025-10-27T21:39:20+00:00",
                        "sourceId": 84,
                        "strikeType": "",
                        "peakCurrent": null
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "lightningStrikes": {
        "type": "FeatureCollection",
        "features": [
            {
                "type": "Feature",
                "geometry": {
                    "type": "Point",
                    "coordinates": [
                        -81.67090606689453,
                        28.59685516357422
                    ]
                },
                "properties": {
                    "id": "7390fc2a-122c-5f66-a9f6-655bc7f0979a",
                    "date": "2025-10-27T02:01:47+00:00",
                    "sourceId": 86,
                    "strikeType": "cg",
                    "peakCurrent": -3780000
                }
            },
            {...}
        ]
    }
}