46
Recorded events
9
Direct deaths
56
Direct injuries
$217K
Property damage
Lightning in Larimer County, Colorado: 46 recorded events between 1996 and 2019. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #51 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Larimer County, Colorado: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Larimer County is the 2000s, when 17 of the county's 46 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 Larimer County archive, lightning makes up 5.0% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #51 for this hazard and #2 within Colorado, putting it in the 97.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in Larimer County with 15 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 25, 2008 | FT COLLINS | 0 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2014 | DEER RIDGE | 0 | 1 | 7 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2014 | DEER RIDGE | 0 | 1 | 4 | $0 |
| Aug 7, 1999 | ESTES PARK | 0 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 21, 1999 | ESTES PARK | 0 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| May 31, 2003 | LOVELAND | 0 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 19, 2016 | RED FEATHER LAKES | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 15, 2001 | LOVELAND | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2019 | ESTES PARK | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 19, 2016 | RED FEATHER LAKES | 0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2016 | FT COLLINS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2014 | DEER RIDGE | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2014 | DEER RIDGE | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 18, 2013 | WELLINGTON | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 18, 2013 | DEER RIDGE | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 5, 2013 | FT COLLINS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2011 | ESTES PARK | 0 | $5K |
| Jun 16, 2011 | FT COLLINS | 0 | $5K |
Other hazards here
More from Larimer County
- Hail 616
- Thunderstorm Wind 136
- Flash Flood 74
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning killed a 35-yr old man and seriously injured his wife and young daughter. The family was hiking near the Gore Range Overlook along Trail Ridge Road when the thunderstorm developed, at an elevation of 11,700 feet.
Lightning blew apart a large ash tree at the Colorado State University campus. The bolt left a 3-ft crater and splintered the tree into thousands of pieces. Debris from the blast broke the windows of a nearby building, damaging the inside.
Two people were injured when they were struck by lightning at the Forest Canyon Overlook, at nearly 12,000 feet elevation along Trail Ridge Road. The thunderstorm formed rapidly overhead. One of the victims was badly burned, the other had no visible injuries.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Larimer County, Colorado?
46 lightning events are recorded in Larimer County between 1996 and 2019, causing 9 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Larimer County?
The strongest lightning on record in Larimer County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Larimer 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 Larimer County, Colorado.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/colorado/larimer-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.