Severe Thunderstorms and Flooding from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes; Record Heat in the East

Widely scattered severe thunderstorms may produce damaging winds, hail, and flash flooding from the southern Plains into the lower Great Lakes. Elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions will persist across portions of the Southwest and Southern High Plains due to gusty winds and dry conditions. An early-season heatwave will challenge temperature records across the eastern U.S.. Read More >

The information below shows how lightning activity in Colorado ranks with the rest of the United States. This information is a sub-section of the Colorado Lightning Resource Page.

Lightning Casualty Information:

Based on data since 1980, lightning causes 2 fatalities and 12 injuries per year in the State of Colorado.

Based on data since 1980, El Paso County, Colorado has the most number of lightning casualties (fatalities + injuries). Click here for additional county-by-county information.

Based on lightning fatality data collected between 2006 through 2024, the state of Colorado ranks 3rd in the nation in lightning fatalities (Lightning Safety Council). Only Texas and Florida had more fatalities during these years. A longer term study (1959-1994) indicated Colorado ranks 11th in the nation for fatalities.

Additional Lightning Information

Based on data from 2009 through 2018, Colorado ranks 19th in the Nation with respect to the number of Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning flashes.

When you look at the average Cloud-to-Ground flash density over the state, Colorado ranks 32nd in the Nation [the average flash density over the entire state of Colorado is 4.8 Flashes per kilometer squared (2009 - 2018 data)].

In an average year, about 500,000 lightning flashes strike the ground in Colorado.

Lightning Myths and Facts

Additional information about CG lightning across the United States can be found here.

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Severe Thunderstorms and Flooding from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes; Record Heat in the East

Colorado Lightning Statistics as compared to other States