49
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$2.0M
Property damage
Lightning in New Castle County, Delaware: 49 recorded events between 1996 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #42 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in New Castle County, Delaware: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in New Castle County is the 2000s, when 30 of the county's 49 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 New Castle County archive, lightning makes up 5.6% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #42 for this hazard and #2 within Delaware, putting it in the 98.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in New Castle 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2012 | BELVIDERE | 0 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Aug 1, 2019 | ROSEVILLE PARK | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2025 | DELEWARE CITY | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 1, 2025 | WILMINGTON | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 1, 2025 | MC DONOUGH | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 4, 2023 | NEWARK | 0 | $10K |
| Aug 1, 2019 | ROSEVILLE PARK | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 21, 2016 | DUNLEITH | 0 | $10 |
| Aug 21, 2016 | MIDDLETOWN | 0 | $10 |
| Jul 28, 2016 | HOCKESSIN | 0 | $10 |
| Jul 13, 2016 | MIDDLETOWN | 0 | $4K |
| Apr 3, 2016 | ODESSA | 0 | $10K |
Other hazards here
More from New Castle County
- Thunderstorm Wind 444
- Flash Flood 156
- Hail 73
- Flood 70
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A lightning strike and ensuing fire destroyed a home just east of Lump's Pond on Mariners Way in New Castle County. A firefighter suffered minor burns. Another lightning strike in Lump's Pond disrupted the county police radio communication. Communications was switched to a back-up system.
As thunderstorms moved across New Castle County, lightning caused damage to three structures. In Newark, in the Academy Hill Development, a lightning strike started a fire in the basement of one home. The home filled with smoke. It took twenty-five firefighters about forty minutes to extinguish the fire. Damage was estimated at $5,000. In New Castle, a lightning strike punched holes in an Artesian Water Tower on School Lane. It caused the tower to leak. In Delaware City, a lightning strike created a hole in the roof of a home on East Harvest Drive. The ensuing fire consumed a large portion of the roof as well as the master bedroom. Damage was estimated at $150,000.
A lightning strike caused a townhouse fire on Creekside Court in the Christine Hollow Development in Bear. The fire burned the roof of the townhouse and adjacent townhouses also suffered minor damage. The townhome residents were displaced. Damage was estimated at $125,000.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in New Castle County, Delaware?
49 lightning events are recorded in New Castle County between 1996 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in New Castle County?
The strongest lightning on record in New Castle County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for New Castle 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 New Castle County, Delaware.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/delaware/new-castle-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.