49
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
23
Direct injuries
$4.9M
Property damage
Lightning in Cobb County, Georgia: 49 recorded events between 1997 and 2017. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #42 nationally and #5 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Cobb County, Georgia: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Cobb County is the 2000s, when 26 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 Cobb County archive, lightning makes up 8.1% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #42 for this hazard and #5 within Georgia, putting it in the 98.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in Cobb County with 17 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 13, 2010 | LELAND | 0 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 30, 2002 | MARIETTA | 0 | 1 | 0 | $3K |
| May 19, 2001 | MT BETHEL | 0 | 0 | 8 | $0 |
| Aug 8, 2014 | POWDER SPGS | 0 | 0 | 7 | $0 |
| Sep 2, 2014 | MARIETTA | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 1998 | MARIETTA | 0 | 0 | 2 | $50K |
| Jun 19, 2010 | ACWORTH | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2010 | ELIZABETH | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2017 | MABLETON | 0 | $10K |
| Sep 2, 2014 | MARIETTA | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 8, 2014 | POWDER SPGS | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 9, 2012 | POWDER SPGS | 0 | $60K |
| Jul 26, 2010 | NOONDAY | 0 | $200K |
| Jul 13, 2010 | LELAND | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 9, 2010 | DUE WEST | 0 | $25K |
| Jul 9, 2010 | DUE WEST | 0 | $25K |
| Jul 9, 2010 | DUE WEST | 0 | $25K |
| Jun 19, 2010 | ACWORTH | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Cobb County
- Thunderstorm Wind 250
- Hail 221
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
WXIA Television of Atlanta reported that two teenage girls were struck by lightning while standing under a tree adjacent to their home at the Windwood apartments, just south of Mableton. The 16-year old female died shortly after being transported from the scene to the hospital. Her 14-year old cousin died on July 21st after being hospitalized in critical condition and on a respirator since the lightning strike on the 13th.
Several newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Marietta Daily Journal, the Columbus Ledger Enquirer, and the Macon Telegraph, as well as the Cobb county Emergency Management Agency and local Atlanta TV stations, reported on a lightning strike and subsequent death to a 49-year old woman from Marietta who was hiking in the Kennesaw National Battlefield park. The woman was hiking on Kennesaw Mountain in the National Battlefield park with her husband and dog. No rain was falling at the time, but thunderstorms surrounded the area with considerable cloud-to-ground lightning activity. The lightning struck the woman at 6:52 pm EDT while she was approximately 30 feet ahead of her husband around a bend in the trail. Her husband found her flat on the ground, immediately after the strike, unconscious, but still alive at the time. She was immediately transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. In addition to this incident, two homes in the Marietta area were set on fire by lightning strikes during this same round of thunderstorms.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that lightning struck and set fire to 24 homes, primarily in Marietta and Smyrna. Seven of the homes were severely damaged, one of which was almost completely destroyed. The state insurance commissioner estimated damages of $1,000,000.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Cobb County, Georgia?
49 lightning events are recorded in Cobb County between 1997 and 2017, causing 3 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Cobb County?
The strongest lightning on record in Cobb County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Cobb 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 Cobb County, Georgia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/georgia/cobb-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.