Pennsylvania lightning map
Pennsylvania sees regular summer thunderstorms, with convection firing over the Appalachians and along fronts crossing the Mid-Atlantic.
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Detected from NOAA GOES-19 GLM satellite data. Aggregate count for Pennsylvania — your exact location and alerts live in the app.
About lightning in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s thunderstorms fire mainly in summer along cold fronts, with the Appalachian terrain lifting air to build storms across the ridges and valleys. Activity runs June through August, sometimes turning severe. Terrain can hide a building cell until it is close. The live distance and trend to the nearest flash give you the warning the mountains can obscure.
- Thunderstorm days/yr
- 35
- US rank
- #30 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 Pennsylvania
Lightning safety in Pennsylvania
Across Pennsylvania, lightning routinely strikes miles ahead of the rain, so a live nearest-strike distance beats waiting for the downpour. The 30-30 ruleis the baseline: shelter within 30 seconds of thunder, and stay in for 30 minutes after the last rumble. StrikeCast’s distance and approaching or moving-away trend tell you which way a Pennsylvania storm is heading before it arrives.
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 Pennsylvania — 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 Pennsylvania get?
Pennsylvania averages about 35 thunderstorm days a year, versus a US average near 25 — roughly 1.4× the national norm. Activity peaks June–August.
Where does Pennsylvania rank for lightning in the US?
By mean annual thunderstorm days, Pennsylvania ranks #30 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 Pennsylvania?
Lightning is most frequent June–August in Pennsylvania.
How does StrikeCast track lightning in Pennsylvania?
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 Pennsylvania in the free app to get a push alert when lightning closes in.