New Hampshire lightning map
New Hampshire's thunderstorms are mostly summer afternoon events, firing over the mountains and along cold fronts crossing New England.
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Detected from NOAA GOES-19 GLM satellite data. Aggregate count for New Hampshire — your exact location and alerts live in the app.
About lightning in New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s thunderstorms are mostly summer afternoon events, firing along cold fronts crossing northern New England and lifting over the White Mountains. Terrain and forest can hide a building storm until it is close. The brief season runs June through August. When a storm does develop, tracking the nearest strike and its trend gives a clearer warning than thunder echoing through the hills.
- Thunderstorm days/yr
- 20
- US rank
- #43 of 50
- Peak season
- June–August
State thunderstorm-day normals are provisional (NOAA/NWS); per-city climate data is shown where a station normal is published.
Cities in New Hampshire
Lightning safety in New Hampshire
The safest call in New Hampshireisn’t how many storm days it averages a year — it’s how close the nearest strike is right now. Keep to the 30-30 rule: indoors within 30 seconds of thunder, back outside only 30 minutes after the last. StrikeCast shows that live distance and whether the storm is closing in, so you can move early.
StrikeCast app
Distance, trend & alerts — in your pocket.
GPS-precise distance to the nearest strike, live approaching/moving-away trend, and push alerts for every place that matters across New Hampshire — home, work, the kids' school.
Your exact location stays on your device. Never shared. Never tracked.
Lightning guides
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm days does New Hampshire get?
New Hampshire averages about 20 thunderstorm days a year, versus a US average near 25 — roughly 0.8× the national norm. Activity peaks June–August.
Where does New Hampshire rank for lightning in the US?
By mean annual thunderstorm days, New Hampshire ranks #43 of 50 states. Rankings use NOAA/NWS climate normals; the live distance and trend on this page come from NOAA GOES-19 satellite data.
When is thunderstorm season in New Hampshire?
Lightning is most frequent June–August in New Hampshire.
How does StrikeCast track lightning in New Hampshire?
StrikeCast reads NOAA GOES-19 GLM (Geostationary Lightning Mapper) satellite data, updated continuously, to show how far away the nearest strike is and whether it is approaching or moving away. Save any place in New Hampshire in the free app to get a push alert when lightning closes in.