Virginia lightning map
Virginia sees frequent warm-season thunderstorms, with mountain convection in the west and humid, sea-breeze-driven storms toward the coast.
Checking…
Detected from NOAA GOES-19 GLM satellite data. Aggregate count for Virginia — your exact location and alerts live in the app.
About lightning in Virginia
Virginia runs from the Appalachians to the Chesapeake and coast, and its lightning spans mountain afternoon storms, frontal systems, and coastal sea-breeze and tropical activity. The active window runs May through August. Storms here often build fast and strike from their leading edge. The live distance and trend to the nearest flash give you more warning than a statewide average could.
- Thunderstorm days/yr
- 40
- US rank
- #26 of 50
- Peak season
- May–August
State thunderstorm-day normals are provisional (NOAA/NWS); per-city climate data is shown where a station normal is published.
Cities in Virginia
Lightning safety in Virginia
Across Virginia, 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 Virginia 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 Virginia — 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 Virginia get?
Virginia averages about 40 thunderstorm days a year, versus a US average near 25 — roughly 1.6× the national norm. Activity peaks May–August.
Where does Virginia rank for lightning in the US?
By mean annual thunderstorm days, Virginia ranks #26 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 Virginia?
Lightning is most frequent May–August in Virginia.
How does StrikeCast track lightning in Virginia?
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 Virginia in the free app to get a push alert when lightning closes in.