Lightning Observations & Nowcast

Lightning Strikes | Lightning List

There are two ways to query lightning parameters. You can either query a lightning density, i.e. the number of lightning strikes within a certain radius, or a list of lightning strikes within a bounding box of your choice.

Lightning Strikes

Lightning strike densities can be queried for an area within a certain radius around a coordinate point. Queries are available either via point or grid queries.

lightning_strikes_<radius>_<interval>:x

Available radii: 1km - 20km (continuously)

Available intervals: 1min, 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, 30min, 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h

Examples

• This point query shows the lightning strike density of the previous 24 hours within a radius of 10km around St. Gallen:
  https://api.meteomatics.com/2025-04-17T00:00:00Z/lightning_strikes_10km_24h:x/47.412164,9.340652/html

• Lightning grid for an area over Germany as a csv:https://api.meteomatics.com/2025-04-17T00:00:00Z/lightning_strikes_10km_24h:x/55,-5_45,10:6x6/csv

  validdate;2017-08-01 12:00:00
  parameter;lightning_strikes_10km_24h:x
  data;-5;-2;1;4;7;10
  55;0;0;0;0;0;0
  53;0;0;0;0;0;0
  51;0;0;0;0;0;57
  49;0;0;0;888;11;0
  47;0;0;0;14;0;0
  45;0;0;84;0;0;0

• Lightning grid for an area over Germany as a png:
  https://api.meteomatics.com/2025-04-17T00:00:00Z/lightning_strikes_10km_24h:x/55,-5_45,10:500x500/png

  

Lightning List

To query lightning lists, you can use either WFS to easily integrate the data into existing frameworks or a specific list query as it is shown below. The output then lists all lightning flashes between the start and end date within the given bounding box. The lightning type field can return the values 1, 2 or -999. A value of 1 indicates a cloud-to-cloud lightning, a value of 2 a cloud-to-ground lightning and -999 means that the type of lightning can not be specified. Furthermore, also the intensity of the specific lightning in kA is returned if available.

https://api.meteomatics.com/get_lightning_list?time_range=<time_range>&bounding_box=<bounding_box>&format=<format>

Valid time ranges: a time period according to the description by defining a start and end point (the time step is not required)

Valid bounding boxes: a rectangle according to the description (the resolution is not required)

Available formats: csv, json, xml

Examples

• https://api.meteomatics.com/get_lightning_list?time_range=2025-04-17T00:00:00ZPT20M&bounding_box=40,-100_30,-80&format=csv

  stroke_time:sql;stroke_lat:d;stroke_lon:d;stroke_current:kA;lightning_type
  2024-08-01T22:00:00Z;37.06472;-86.91128;-999;1
  2024-08-01T22:00:01Z;30.00206;-83.49265;-999;1
  2024-08-01T22:00:02Z;37.81665;-85.37604;-8.4;2
  2024-08-01T22:00:02Z;37.80571;-85.37691;-11.4;2
  2024-08-01T22:00:02Z;37.02913;-87.17538;-14.5;2
  2024-08-01T22:00:02Z;33.75159;-83.96323;-27.5;2

• https://api.meteomatics.com/get_lightning_list?time_range=2025-04-16T02:00:00Z--2025-04-16T03:00:00Z&bounding_box=40,-100_30,-80&format=json

  {"version":"3.0","user":"api-test","dateGenerated":"2024-09-11T08:26:48Z","status":"OK","lightning_list":
  [{"stroke_time:sql":"2024-0901T17:45:05Z","stroke_lat:d":"35.479","stroke_lon:d":"-91.7242","stroke_current:kA":"-15","lightning_type":"2"},
  {"stroke_time:sql":"2024-09-01T17:45:05Z","stroke_lat:d":"35.4651","stroke_lon:d":"-91.752","stroke_current:kA":"-16.5","lightning_type":"2"},
  {"stroke_time:sql":"2024-09-01T17:45:20Z","stroke_lat:d":"38.849","stroke_lon:d":"-80.8654","stroke_current:kA":"-999","lightning_type":"1"},
  {"stroke_time:sql":"2024-09-01T17:45:20Z","stroke_lat:d":"38.845","stroke_lon:d":"-80.8603","stroke_current:kA":"-18.2","lightning_type":"2"},
  {"stroke_time:sql":"2024-09-01T17:45:33Z","stroke_lat:d":"35.7407","stroke_lon:d":"-86.8738","stroke_current:kA":"21.7","lightning_type":"2"}]}