78
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
20
Direct injuries
$1.2M
Property damage
Lightning in Pima County, Arizona: 78 recorded events between 1996 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #10 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Pima County, Arizona: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Pima County is the 2010s, when 38 of the county's 78 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Pima County archive, lightning makes up 4.6% of all recorded severe weather across 11 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #10 for this hazard and #1 within Arizona, putting it in the 99.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in Pima County with 38 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10, 2010 | (DMA)DAVIS MONTHAN A | 0 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 14, 2014 | SELLS | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 29, 2005 | TUCSON | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 14, 2007 | SASABE | 0 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Oct 19, 2000 | TUCSON | 0 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Sep 26, 1996 | TUCSON | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 20, 2015 | NAWT VAYA | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 21, 2010 | GREEN VLY | 0 | 0 | 1 | $500 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2025 | TUCSON | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | SABINO | 0 | $3K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | EMERY PARK | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | TUSCON RYAN FLD ARPT | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | EMERY PARK | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | OLD TUSCON | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 16, 2025 | ORO VLY | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 3, 2025 | MARANA | 0 | $2K |
| Nov 3, 2022 | QUIJOTOA | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 13, 2022 | SAHUARITA | 0 | $75K |
Other hazards here
More from Pima County
- Thunderstorm Wind 798
- Flash Flood 521
- Hail 189
- Flood 43
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Local law enforcement reported that a maintenance worker was struck by lightning while outside the middle school in Sells. The individual was flown to a Tucson area hospital and later succumbed to injuries sustained from the strike.
Two men were injured due to a lightning strike on a golf course. One man suffered life threatening injuries, which he later died from. Another man was about 50 feet away, and received a milder shock from the lightning strike.
A lightning strike caused a house fire during the early morning hours of July 20th. The lightning strike likely occurred around 1 AM as storms impacted north Tucson, with the sparks smoldering in the roof's insulation until a neighbor noticed the fire spreading around 5 AM. The fire resulted in extension damage to the home before the fire was extinguished.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Pima County, Arizona?
78 lightning events are recorded in Pima County between 1996 and 2025, causing 3 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Pima County?
The strongest lightning on record in Pima County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Pima County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Lightning in Pima County, Arizona.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arizona/pima-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.