72
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
58
Direct injuries
$644K
Property damage
Lightning in Miami-Dade County, Florida: 72 recorded events between 1996 and 2023. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #13 nationally and #7 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Miami-Dade County, Florida: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Miami-Dade County is the 2000s, when 29 of the county's 72 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 Miami-Dade County archive, lightning makes up 5.8% of all recorded severe weather across 11 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #13 for this hazard and #7 within Florida, putting it in the 99.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in Miami-Dade County with 21 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 8, 2015 | GOLDEN BEACH | 0 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Sep 2, 2013 | ALADDIN CITY | 0 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 4, 2002 | HOMESTEAD | 0 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Sep 5, 2009 | KEY BISCAYNE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 8, 2007 | MIAMI LAKE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2007 | KENDALL | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 3, 2002 | MIAMI | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 1, 1997 | MIAMI LAKE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2023 | WESTWOOD LAKES | 0 | $0 |
| May 30, 2022 | GOULDS | 0 | $5K |
| Jun 3, 2020 | BAL HARBOUR | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 26, 2019 | HIALEAH GARDENS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 2019 | BISCAYNE GARDENS | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 24, 2019 | WEST MIAMI | 0 | $86K |
| May 3, 2019 | WEST MIAMI | 0 | $100K |
| Jul 10, 2018 | MIAMI | 0 | $1K |
| Aug 14, 2017 | HOMESTEAD GEN AVN AR | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 20, 2016 | WEST MIAMI | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Miami-Dade County
- Thunderstorm Wind 377
- Hail 244
- Tornado 150
- Flood 108
- Funnel Cloud 99
- Waterspout 74
- Flash Flood 61
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck and killed a 41-year-old man who was doing landscape work at a home at 10500 SW 62 Ave in Pinecrest. The man was under a tree when the lightning struck. ||It was not raining at the location of the lightning strike, although a thunderstorm was located about 2 to 3 miles to the north. The media reported this incident as dry lightning striking out of a clear sky, although the lightning bolt likely originated out of the side of the nearby storm.
A 40-year-old man was struck by lightning while walking door to door along NW 199th Street in Miami Lakes. The man was taken to the Ryder Trauma Center where he died 5 days later.||Light rain was falling at the time of the lightning strike, although there were no dark clouds directly overhead.
Two men walking through a nursery in the Redlands were affected by lightning. One man was killed instantly and the other injured and treated at a local hospital. It had just started raining at the time the lightning struck.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Miami-Dade County, Florida?
72 lightning events are recorded in Miami-Dade County between 1996 and 2023, causing 8 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Miami-Dade County?
The strongest lightning on record in Miami-Dade County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Miami-Dade 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 Miami-Dade County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/miami-dade-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.