Weather forecasting is still an inexact science!

My wife and I had a community event scheduled that we were coordinating, and three different forecasting services predicted 60% chance of thunderstorms and higher chance of rain all day, just 24 hours in advance, and the day turned out to be bright, sunny and dry.

So yes, it's more accurate than it used to be, but still not reliably accurate.

Regarding lightning, there are approximately 40-50 people killed in the United States by lightning each year, and up to ten times as many that are injured. Where you are located is also a huge factor - Wyoming seems to be the most dangerous, followed by the other mountain states and the southeast U.S.