90
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
25
Direct injuries
$12.1M
Property damage
Lightning in Tarrant County, Texas: 90 recorded events between 1996 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #7 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Tarrant County, Texas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Tarrant County is the 2000s, when 41 of the county's 90 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 Tarrant County archive, lightning makes up 3.1% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #7 for this hazard and #1 within Texas, putting it in the 99.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Aug is the peak month for lightning in Tarrant County with 24 recorded events, while Dec 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 2026 | COLLEYVILLE | — | 2 | 0 | $750K |
| Aug 28, 2009 | HURST | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 7, 2001 | BEDFORD | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 1, 2025 | WHEATLAND | 0 | 0 | 14 | $5K |
| May 5, 2025 | GRAPEVINE S LAKE ARP | 0 | 0 | 3 | $10K |
| Apr 26, 2023 | FT WORTH LUCK ARPT | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 5, 1997 | ARLINGTON | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| May 5, 2006 | ARLINGTON | 0 | 0 | 1 | $5K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 2026 | COLLEYVILLE | — | $750K |
| Nov 20, 2025 | BENBROOK LAKE | 0 | $200K |
| Nov 20, 2025 | WHEATLAND | 0 | $500K |
| Nov 20, 2025 | WHEATLAND | 0 | $500K |
| Jun 25, 2025 | WEBB | 0 | $200K |
| Jun 1, 2025 | WHEATLAND | 0 | $5K |
| May 5, 2025 | SOUTHLAKE | 0 | $150K |
| May 5, 2025 | GRAPEVINE S LAKE ARP | 0 | $10K |
| Jun 1, 2024 | KELLER | 0 | $50K |
| May 16, 2024 | BENBROOK | 0 | $300K |
Other hazards here
More from Tarrant County
- Hail 1,413
- Thunderstorm Wind 951
- Flash Flood 285
- Tornado 110
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck a pregnant female at 7:30 pm CDT as she crossed a residential street after exiting her car. The unborn child died soon after the strike and the mother died in the hospital three days later on August 30th at 4:44 PM CDT.
Fort Worth Fire Deparment responded to a total of 7 structure fires during this MCS event: a commercial building on the 1100 block of North Sylvania Avenue, a residence in the 10300 block of Vintage Drive, a residence in the 1800 block of Marlene Drive, a residence in the 3800 block of Buckhorn Place, a residence in the 4500 block of East Loop 820, a residence at Wilbarger Street and Martin Luther King Freeway, and a residence at Shadydell Drive and Boat Club Road.
Lightning struck a newly built vacant house on Merrill Drive around 3:30 AM. The fire burned the roof off and damage was estimated at $180,000. Another lightning strike started a blaze at a house still under construction on Merion Drive. The vacant house had been burning for some time when firefighters arrived, and damage was estimated at $400,000.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Tarrant County, Texas?
90 lightning events are recorded in Tarrant County between 1996 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Tarrant County?
The strongest lightning on record in Tarrant County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Tarrant 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 Tarrant County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/tarrant-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.