Colorado lightning
Every recorded lightning record since 1996 · 57 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 475 lightning records in Colorado from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 14 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the July 24, 2008 lightning in Larimer County: 2 deaths. Colorado ranks 14th of 52 states and territories by count and 32nd of 51 per square mile.
Lightning in Colorado, 1996 to 2026
Lightning records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 4751996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 14average
- Deaths
- 50308 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $19Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 199651 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are lightning records common in Colorado?
Colorado averages about 14 lightning records a year since 2000, 14th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1996 (51). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Colorado records 46 lightning records since 1996, 32nd of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Colorado have the most lightning records?
Per square mile, Denver County leads Colorado: 19 days with a lightning record since 1996, 124.1 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, El Paso County has the most lightning records (51 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the lightning season in Colorado?
55% of its lightning records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is July (156 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 0 · Feb 1 · Mar 1 · Apr 14 · May 54 · Jun 103 · Jul 156 · Aug 107 · Sep 32 · Oct 7 · Nov 0 · Dec 0 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest lightning records in Colorado?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-07-24 | LightningFt Collins, Larimer County Two graduate students at Colorado State University were struck by lightning while standing under a tree. One man was killed instantly, the other died of his injuries a week later. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2003-07-31 | LightningRifle, Garfield County The two victims had been riding horses in a remote area of Battlement Mesa when the storm arrived. They sought shelter under a tree which was struck by lightning. The surviving horses which were not under the tree did not get struck by lightning. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2014-07-11 | LightningDeer Ridge, Larimer County Lightning killed one person and injured seven others at RMNP. | 1 | 7 | – | |
| 1997-06-07 | LightningDenver County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places, 1997-06-07 to 1997-06-10; the totals are the episode's. Two plumbers were injured, one critically, when lightning struck a pipe they were working on in a building under construction. The bolt apparently hit one man in the hand, it then passed through his chest and struck the other worker. The critically injured man died a few days later. | 1 | 5 | – | |
| 2014-07-12 | LightningDeer Ridge, Larimer County Lightning killed one man and injured four others in RMNP. | 1 | 4 | – | |
| 2004-08-01 | LightningBreckenridge, Summit County Lightning killed a woman as she was hiking in French Gulch near Breckenridge. Four other people hiking with the woman were knocked down but suffered only minor injuries. | 1 | 4 | – | |
| 2004-05-29 | LightningLakewood, Jefferson County A father and son practicing on the driving range at the Meadows Golf Club were were struck by lightning. The father was killed by the bolt and his 16-yr old was son seriously injured. Three others standing nearby received only minor injuries. | 1 | 4 | – | |
| 2015-07-17 | LightningAlpine, Chaffee County One woman perished and three were injured from the lightning strike. | 1 | 3 | – | |
| 1998-09-23 | LightningLamar, Prowers County Terry Hendricks, 32, died and three others were injured while working at a hog farm when lightning struck. Hendricks was carrying a metal object when the lightning struck and died at the scene. The other three men were airlifted to a Denver area hospital for burns and residual tingling sensation. | 1 | 3 | – | |
| 2001-05-30 | LightningFt Carson, El Paso County Four soldiers on Fort Carson were struck by lightning. Three were taken to area hospitals, treated and released. The other remained in a coma for three weeks, and died of his injuries on June 20th. | 1 | 3 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest lightning records in Colorado
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-08-22 | LightningSedalia, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | $3.4M | |
| 1997-06-23 | LightningDenver County | 0 | 0 | $1.8M | |
| 2001-05-30 | LightningEvergreen, Jefferson County | 0 | 0 | $1.7M | |
| 1998-09-20 | LightningWindsor, Weld County | 0 | 0 | $905K | |
| 2008-08-16 | LightningVail, Eagle County | 0 | 0 | $685K | |
| 2024-06-21 | LightningMontrose County | 0 | 0 | $470K | |
| 2000-08-16 | LightningAurora Cherry Creek, Arapahoe County | 0 | 0 | $428K | |
| 1996-08-29 | LightningColorado Spgs, El Paso County | 0 | 0 | $376K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are lightning records becoming more frequent in Colorado?
Colorado's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Colorado | United States | Colorado's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 149 | 3,521 | 4.2% |
| 2000s | 232 | 8,052 | 2.9% |
| 2010s | 87 | 5,103 | 1.7% |
| 2020-26 | 7 | 1,544 | 0.5% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent lightning records in Colorado
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-06-21 | LightningMontrose County | 0 | 0 | $470K | |
| 2024-05-25 | LightningRand, Jackson County | 1 | 0 | $80K | |
| 2021-07-31 | LightningChimney Rock, Archuleta County | 0 | 2 | – | |
| 2020-07-17 | LightningGunnison Co Arp, Gunnison County | 0 | 3 | – | |
| 2020-06-06 | LightningDurango, La Plata County | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2019-08-17 | LightningEstes Park, Larimer County | 0 | 1 | – | |
| 2019-07-14 | LightningEldorado Canyon State Park, Boulder County | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2019-07-01 | LightningCanon City, Fremont County | 0 | 1 | – | |
| 2019-06-30 | LightningDeckers, Douglas County | 0 | 8 | – | |
| 2019-05-06 | LightningCedar Pt, Elbert County | 0 | 4 | – | |
| 2018-07-27 | LightningLake George, Park County | 0 | 2 | – | |
| 2017-08-13 | LightningRico, Dolores County | 1 | 1 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Next
- Denver County: the county's whole recordThe Colorado county with the most lightning records per square mile
- Lightning across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in ColoradoTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Hail in Colorado15,490 records
- Winter storms in Colorado15,010 records
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Colorado4,650 records