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Lightning

Parameters

Current strikes by bounding box — request parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Required
apikey	Your API key	—	Yes
version	API version	v1	Yes
timeInterval	Time span in minutes. Available: 5, 15, 30, 60, 120.	—	Yes
format	Response format (e.g., .geojson)	—	Yes
upperLeft	Northwestern corner of the bounding box as latitude,longitude in decimal format.	—	Yes
lowerRight	Southeastern corner of the bounding box as latitude,longitude in decimal format.	—	Yes
offset	Result page offset. Results returned in sets of 5000. 0 = first set, 1 = second set, etc. -1 or omitted = all results.	-1	No

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Current strikes by point and radius — request parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Required
apikey	Your API key	—	Yes
version	API version	v1	Yes
timeInterval	Time span in minutes. Available: 5, 15, 30, 60, 120.	—	Yes
format	Response format (e.g., .geojson)	—	Yes
q	Central search location as latitude,longitude in decimal format.	—	Yes
distanceRadius	Search radius in miles from center point. Maximum 60 miles.	5	No

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Forecasts by point — request parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Required
apikey	Your API key	—	Yes
version	API version	v1	Yes
q	Location as latitude,longitude in decimal format.	—	Yes

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Historical strikes by point and radius — request parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Required
apikey	Your API key	—	Yes
version	API version	v1	Yes
q	Central search location as latitude,longitude in decimal format.	—	Yes
startDate	Start date in ISO 8601 format (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm+hh).	—	Yes
offset	Result page offset. Results returned in sets of 5000. 0 = first set, 1 = second set, etc.	—	Yes
distanceRadius	Search radius in miles from center point. Maximum 60 miles.	5	No
strikeType	Filter by strike type: ic (intra-cloud) or cg (cloud-to-ground).	—	No
details	Include extended information in the response.	false	No

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Current endpoints response parameters

Field	Type	Description
type	string	GeoJSON collection type (FeatureCollection)
features[]	array	Array of lightning strike features
features[].type	string	GeoJSON feature type (Feature)
features[].geometry.type	string	Geometry type (Point)
features[].geometry.coordinates	array	Geolocation coordinates for the lightning strike
features[].properties.id	string	Unique lightning strike ID
features[].properties.date	string	Observation date/time in UTC
features[].properties.sourceId	integer	Data source: 84 — GOES East GLM, 85 — GOES West GLM, 86 — AccuWeather Lightning Network
features[].properties.strikeType	string	Strike type: ic (intra-cloud), cg (cloud-to-ground), "" (missing/not applicable)
features[].properties.peakCurrent	integer	Strike amperage. Positive = positively-charged (more energetic). Negative = negatively-charged (most common).

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Forecasts endpoints response parameters

Field	Type	Description
latitude	number	North-south position of the requested point
longitude	number	East-west position of the requested point
initDateTime	string	Forecast start date/time in ISO 8601 format (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ). Data returned in 10-minute intervals for a 2-hour period.
forecasts[]	array	Array of forecast data for the requested location
forecasts[].startDateTime	string	Forecasted date/time in ISO 8601 format (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm)
forecasts[].startEpochTime	integer	Forecasted date/time as epoch seconds
forecasts[].probability	number	A percentile indicating the predicted likelihood of at least one lightning strike occurring at the requested location during the indicated ten-minute interval

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Historical endpoints response parameters

Field	Type	Description
pageCount	integer	Current result page. Results in sets of 5000. -1 = all results displayed.
resultsCount	integer	Total number of lightning strikes returned
lightningSummary	object	Overview of lightning strike results
lightningSummary.positiveStrikes	integer	Total positively-charged strikes
lightningSummary.negativeStrikes	integer	Total negatively-charged strikes
lightningSummary.closestStrike	object	Lightning strike nearest to the search center (q)
lightningSummary.closestStrike.type	string	GeoJSON collection type (FeatureCollection)
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[]	array	Closest strike data
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].type	string	GeoJSON feature type (Feature)
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].geometry.type	string	Geometry type (Point)
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].geometry.coordinates	array	Coordinates in decimal format
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].properties.id	string	Unique strike ID
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].properties.date	string	Strike date/time in ISO 8601 format
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].properties.sourceId	integer	Data source ID
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].properties.strikeType	string	Strike type: ic, cg, or ""
lightningSummary.closestStrike.features[].properties.peakCurrent	integer	Strike amperage. Positive = positively-charged (more energetic). Negative = negatively-charged (most common).
lightningStrikes	object	Individual lightning strike data
lightningStrikes.type	string	GeoJSON collection type (FeatureCollection)
lightningStrikes.features[]	array	Array of individual strike features
lightningStrikes.features[].type	string	GeoJSON feature type (Feature)
lightningStrikes.features[].geometry.type	string	Geometry type (Point)
lightningStrikes.features[].geometry.coordinates	array	Strike coordinates
lightningStrikes.features[].properties.id	string	Unique strike ID
lightningStrikes.features[].properties.date	string	Strike date/time in ISO 8601 format
lightningStrikes.features[].properties.sourceId	integer	Data source ID
lightningStrikes.features[].properties.strikeType	string	Strike type: ic, cg, or ""
lightningStrikes.features[].properties.peakCurrent	integer	Strike amperage. Positive = positively-charged (more energetic). Negative = negatively-charged (most common).