Utah lightning map
Utah's summer monsoon brings afternoon thunderstorms over the mountains and plateaus, with lightning and brief, locally heavy downpours.
Checking…
Detected from NOAA GOES-19 GLM satellite data. Aggregate count for Utah — your exact location and alerts live in the app.
About lightning in Utah
Utah’s thunderstorms come mainly with the late-summer monsoon across the south and afternoon convection over the Wasatch and high country. Many are dry storms whose lightning starts wildfires over the state’s rugged terrain. Activity runs July through September. Because dry lightning can strike with little rain to warn you, the live distance to the nearest flash and its trend are the numbers that matter.
- Thunderstorm days/yr
- 35
- US rank
- #31 of 50
- Peak season
- July–September
State thunderstorm-day normals are provisional (NOAA/NWS); per-city climate data is shown where a station normal is published.
Cities in Utah
Lightning safety in Utah
The safest call in Utahisn’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 Utah — 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 Utah get?
Utah averages about 35 thunderstorm days a year, versus a US average near 25 — roughly 1.4× the national norm. Activity peaks July–September.
Where does Utah rank for lightning in the US?
By mean annual thunderstorm days, Utah ranks #31 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 Utah?
Lightning is most frequent July–September in Utah.
How does StrikeCast track lightning in Utah?
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 Utah in the free app to get a push alert when lightning closes in.