Lightning API – Real-Time & Historical Lightning Data

OpenWeather Lightning API

The OpenWeather Lightning API provides observed lightning events detected by a global sensor network.

The data is derived from the ERA5 reanalysis model, offering global coverage and a historical archive starting from 2023-06-26.

Each record represents an individual lightning discharge with geographic coordinates, timestamp, and an estimated positional uncertainty.

Data type: Observed lightning strikes (cloud-to-ground and intra- cloud, where available).
Spatial input: Point (lat/lon) + search radius ≤ 50 km. All parameters are required.
Temporal input: start_date, end_date (UTC, ISO-8601) — maximum 7-day window.
Output: List of lightning events, each with:

datetime — timestamp of detection
lat, lon — strike location
quality — detection confidence
error — horizontal location error

Update frequency: Near-real-time, available within minutes of occurrence.
Historical range: Historical lightning data available from 2023-06-26 to present

Authentication

Every request requires an API key.

Endpoints

Historical Lightning Data

HTTP

GET

https://demo.openweathermap.org/lightning/1.0/data?lat={LATITUDE}&lon={LONGITUDE}&radius={RADIUS}&start_date={START_DATE}&end_date={END_DATE}
&apikey={YOUR_API_KEY}

Query Parameters

All parameters are required.

Name	Type	Description
lat	number	Latitude in decimal degrees (−90…90). Global coverage (±90).
lon	number	Longitude in decimal degrees (−180…180). Global coverage (±180).
radius	number	Search radius in kilometres (0–50, decimal values allowed).
start_date	string (ISO-8601 UTC or with timezone offset)	Start of the requested time window.
end_date	string (ISO-8601 UTC or with timezone offset)	End of the requested time window (maximum 7 days 23:59:59 after start_date).
apikey	string	OpenWeather API key.

Date & Time Rules

start_date must be less than or equal to end_date
Maximum allowed range between dates: 7 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
Minimum available date: 2023-06-26T09:56:38.000Z

Supported formats:

ISO-8601 with UTC (Z), e.g. 2023-09-08T21:00:00Z
ISO-8601 with timezone offset, e.g. 2023-09-08T21:00:00+02:00

Important:

Both dates must use the same format
Mixing formats is not allowed (e.g. Z and +02:00)

URL Example

https://demo.openweathermap.org/lightning/1.0/data?lat=34.360371&lon=22.617449&radius=20&start_date=2023-09-08T21:00:00Z&end_date=2023-09-08T21:10:00Z&apik
ey={YOUR_API_KEY}

Response (200) — JSON

{
  "lat": 34.360371,
  "lon": 22.617449,
  "radius": 20.0,
  "start_date": "2023-09-08T21:00:00Z",
  "end_date": "2023-09-08T21:10:00Z",
  "lightnings": [
    {
    "id": "9db73abd-a064-4cd5-8086-ba1053e49e6b",
    "datetime": "2023-09-08T21:03:54+00:00",
    "lat": 34.362811,
    "lon": 22.614233,
    "quality": "good",
    "error": 4.5
    },
    {
    "id": "91b5581a-4005-44a9-9d01-0c6daf2567f9",
    "datetime": "2023-09-08T21:07:21+00:00",
    "lat": 34.359114,
    "lon": 22.619822,
    "quality": "medium",
    "error": 12.5
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions

Field	Type	Description
id	string (UUID)	Unique record identifier.
datetime	string (UTC, ISO-8601)	Detection time of lightning strike (always returned in UTC).
lat, lon	number	Location of detected discharge.
quality	string	Quality level of detection (good, medium, bad, undefined).
error	number (km)	Estimated horizontal location uncertainty.

Error Handling

HTTP	Meaning	Example Payload
400	Validation error (missing/invalid parameters)	{"code":"400","message": "Invalid parameter format","parameters":["lat"]}
401	Unauthorized (invalid API key)	{"code":"401","message": Unauthorized"}
403	Forbidden	{"code":"403","message":"Forbidden"}
404	Not found	{"code":"404","message":"Not Found"}
429	Rate limited	{"code":"429","message":"Too many requests"}
500	Internal server error	{"code":"500","message":"Internal server error"}

Response (200) — JSON

{
  "lat": 34.360371,
  "lon": 22.617449,
  "radius": 20.0,
  "start_date": "2023-09-08T21:00:00Z",
  "end_date": "2023-09-08T21:10:00Z",
  "lightnings": [
    {
    "id": "9db73abd-a064-4cd5-8086-ba1053e49e6b",
    "datetime": "2023-09-08T21:03:54+00:00",
    "lat": 34.362811,
    "lon": 22.614233,
    "quality": "good",
    "error": 4.5
    },
    {
    "id": "91b5581a-4005-44a9-9d01-0c6daf2567f9",
    "datetime": "2023-09-08T21:07:21+00:00",
    "lat": 34.359114,
    "lon": 22.619822,
    "quality": "medium",
    "error": 12.5
    }
  ]
}