Historical Lightning API
This API returns historical lightning observations from a given point, and date. Lightning data is derived from lightning sensors on board geostationary satellites, as well as weather radar in regions without sensor coverage.
Lightning sensor data is available from 180 West (-180) to 80 East (+80) longitude - covering North/South America, Europe, Africa, and eastern Asia. Sensor data is updated once every 5 minutes. Radar based lightning estimates are available from 80 East (+80) to 180 East (+180) longitude - covering western Asia including China, India, Japan, Australia, and other countries in this area. Radar estimates are updated every 15 minutes.
All parameters should be supplied to the Weather API as query string parameters.
*NOTE: Historical data is available back to August 15th, 2024. Usage of this API consumes 10 historical requests against your account quotas per actual API request, even if no lightning occurred on the given date.
Base URL
Request Parameters
key- Your API Key.
local- [DEFAULT] Assumes LOCAL time date parameterutc- Assumes UTC for date parameter
Geolocation Options
| Description | Required Parameters | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Get observation by lat/lon | lat,lon | &lat=35.523&lon=-78.543 |
Example Request:
https://api.weatherbit.io/v2.0/history/lightning?lat=33.7488&lon=-84.3877&date=2025-08-20&search_dist_km=5&limit=500&skip=10&sort=distance&key=API_KEYExample Response (JSON): [Download]
Example Response (GeoJSON): [Download]
{
"count": 231,
"date": "2025-08-20",
"lat": 33.7488,
"lightning": [
{
"bearing_cardinal": "NW",
"bearing_degrees": 308,
"distance_km": 3.18,
"distance_mi": 1.98,
"id": 58190,
"lat": 33.769,
"lon": -84.413,
"past_mins": 18675.6,
"source": "glm",
"timestamp_local": "2025-08-20T20:39:04",
"timestamp_utc": "2025-08-21T00:39:04",
"type": "flash"
},
{
"bearing_cardinal": "SW",
"bearing_degrees": 231,
"distance_km": 3.9,
"distance_mi": 2.42,
"id": 28526,
"lat": 33.724,
"lon": -84.418,
"past_mins": 18675.7,
"source": "glm",
"timestamp_local": "2025-08-20T20:39:01",
"timestamp_utc": "2025-08-21T00:39:01",
"type": "flash"
}, ...
],
"limit": 500,
"lon": -84.3877,
"search_distance_km": 5,
"search_mins": null,
"skip": 10,
"sort": "time",
"timezone": "America/New_York"
}
Field Decriptions:
count:Total count of lightning events.date:Valid date lightning events (YYYY-MM-DD).limit:Count of results in response (determined by "limit").lat:Latitude of point.lon:Longitude of point.search_distance_km:Search distance from point for lightning (KM).search_mins:Amount of time backwards from current time searched.skip:Number of results skipped in response (offset).sort:Ascending sort key of data (time or distance).timezone:Timezone of response data.lightning: [lat:Latitude of lightning (Degrees).lon:Longitude of lightning (Degrees).bearing_cardinal:Cardinal direction abbreviation of lightning relative to point.bearing_degrees:Direction in degrees of lightning relative to point.distance_km:Distance in kilometers of lightning from point.distance_mi:Distance in miles of lightning from point.id:Internal identifier of lightning.timestamp_utc:Lightning time at UTC timezone.timestamp_local:Lightning time at Local timezone.past_mins:Amount of time passed since lightning lightning (in minutes).type:Type of lightning observation.source:Source of data.]