Where lightning has hit, where fires are burning, and how dry the land is.

Is the data fresh?

Top right: a green dot means up to date (new data every 10 minutes). An amber dot and a banner mean the data is late, so recent lightning may be missing.

Lightning

Each glow is a strike seen by satellite. Color is time since it struck: bright white-blue is the last hour, fading to purple over 3 days. Size is the size of the flash, not the fire risk. New strikes flash as they arrive. Positions are accurate to within a few miles.

Fires

Flame badges are wildfires reported by fire agencies. Tap one for its name, size and containment.

Gold ring, labelled NEW: reported in the last 24 hours. The ones to watch.

Orange ring: still burning; the label shows how much is contained.

Small and grey: 100% contained or declared out.

Bolt on the badge: the fire agency lists it as lightning-caused. Tap it to see a dotted line to the strike that most likely started it: the nearest one seen within 9 miles in the 14 days before it was reported. Two or more days between them means a holdover: it may have smoldered unseen.

Small dots: a satellite saw unusual heat. White-hot means seen in the last few hours, fading to dark red over 3 days. Often a fire, sometimes a controlled burn or industry. Fresh heat near recent lightning is worth watching.

If lightning struck today

How readily a strike would catch, from how dry the fuels are: orange would catch easily, green is unlikely to catch. It switches itself on when there has been no lightning for 6 hours, until you switch it yourself under Layers. A guide to dryness, not a fire forecast.

Lightning status

The line under the top bar says what the sky is doing: lightning now, when and where the last strike was, or how many days it has been quiet. If the satellite data is late, it says so instead. Tap it for details and a button that takes you to the storm or the last strike.

Dry thunderstorm outlook (National Weather Service)

Pale, sparse hatching: isolated dry thunderstorms forecast: lightning with little rain, the kind most likely to start fires.

Brighter, dense hatching: scattered dry thunderstorms, more of them.

Choose Today, Tomorrow or Days 3–8 in the panel. It is a forecast, not a warning, and ordinary wet thunderstorms can still bring lightning.

The panel

Choose how far back to show lightning (1 hour to 3 days), switch layers, and check each data source. Tap anything on the map for details. 3D tilts the map to show the terrain.

Not an official warning. Call 911 in an emergency. For evacuations, follow your county and local fire agencies.