Downstrike
Live lightning, real thunder
Only for iPhone
Free · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Downstrike is a live lightning map centered on your home. Strikes appear seconds after they flash — then cool from white to ember as they age, so every storm paints its own trail across the dark map.
THE MAP
• Live strikes from Blitzortung.org, a worldwide network of volunteer radio receivers that hears every bolt and locates it with a stopwatch
• Thunder rings expand from each strike at the real speed of sound — when a ring crosses your house, that's the moment the rumble arrives
• Distance rings at 10, 25 and 50 km, with an amber glow that points toward approaching activity
• Wind flow particles and a rain radar layer
• Real thunder, synthesized live: sharp booms up close, long low rumbles far away — at each strike's true distance
NO STORM NEARBY?
Tap the big glowing bolt. It flies you to the most active storm on Earth at that moment — there is always one somewhere.
STORM WARNINGS (US)
Turn on notifications and your phone buzzes when the National Weather Service issues a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning for where you are — even with the app closed. Plus a minute-by-minute rain forecast for the next hour, powered by Apple Weather.
HONEST BY DESIGN
Free, no accounts, no ads, no tracking. Your address stays on your device; if you enable warnings, only your approximate location (about 1 km) is stored to check official alerts — and turning them off deletes it.
Downstrike is for learning and storm-watching fun. It is not an emergency service — in dangerous weather, follow official guidance.
Made by Leo and Noah Zimmerman, a father-and-son team, with help from Claude. Lightning data thanks to the volunteers of Blitzortung.org. Map © CARTO, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Wind by Open-Meteo. Radar by RainViewer.
Ratings & Reviews
New: share a storm! Tap the share button for a branded storm picture, a 15-second clip, or a link to exactly what you're watching — right from the map.
The storm button is back in the center where it belongs; the wind-flow toggle now lives in Settings.
The developer, Noah Zimmerman, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Location
- Identifiers
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Noah Zimmerman
- Size
- 2.1 MB
- Category
- Weather
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Leo & Noah Zimmerman