46
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$10.0M
Property damage
Lightning in Pulaski County, Arkansas: 46 recorded events between 1997 and 2022. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #51 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Pulaski County, Arkansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Pulaski County is the 2010s, when 21 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 Pulaski County archive, lightning makes up 2.4% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #51 for this hazard and #1 within Arkansas, putting it in the 97.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Aug is the peak month for lightning in Pulaski County with 13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2008 | PULASKI | 0 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 8, 2018 | MAUMELLE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 20, 2019 | (LIT)LITTLE ROCK ADA | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2022 | CAMMACK VLG | 0 | $100K |
| Nov 11, 2021 | SHADY GROVE | 0 | $50K |
| Nov 11, 2021 | LEVY | 0 | $50K |
| Aug 29, 2020 | FORT ROOTS | 0 | $50K |
| May 22, 2020 | WARSAW | 0 | $100K |
| May 22, 2020 | WARSAW | 0 | $100K |
| May 22, 2020 | BRITTAIN | 0 | $100K |
| Jun 20, 2019 | (ORK)NO LITTLE ROCK ARPT | 0 | $100K |
| Feb 20, 2019 | (LIT)LITTLE ROCK ADA | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 8, 2018 | MAUMELLE | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Pulaski County
- Thunderstorm Wind 726
- Hail 677
- Flash Flood 237
- Tornado 102
- Heavy Rain 64
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 17 year-old male was stuck and killed by lightning while standing under a large pine tree in the 1800 block of South Jackson Street (about 3 miles west-southwest of downtown Little Rock). Males 13 and 14 years old were injured. The lightning strike occurred just as the storm was moving into the area. Lightning detection equipment showed very few cloud-to-ground strikes with this particular storm.
Lightning struck an electric substation and also set fire to a building at the substation. Power was knocked out to 11,900 customers until power could be rerouted. The electric utility estimated that it would take three months to repair the damage to the substation.
Lightning struck several houses in Maumelle between 2:00 am and 3:30 am. One home was completely destroyed by a fire that resulted from a lightning strike. The other homes had minor damage, which mainly consisted of electrical damage.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Pulaski County, Arkansas?
46 lightning events are recorded in Pulaski County between 1997 and 2022, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Pulaski County?
The strongest lightning on record in Pulaski County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Pulaski 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 Pulaski County, Arkansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arkansas/pulaski-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.