50
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
12
Direct injuries
$6.5M
Property damage
Lightning in Fayette County, Georgia: 50 recorded events between 1997 and 2023. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #40 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Fayette County, Georgia: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Fayette County is the 2000s, when 31 of the county's 50 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 Fayette County archive, lightning makes up 12.7% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #40 for this hazard and #4 within Georgia, putting it in the 98.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for lightning in Fayette County with 18 recorded events, while Sep 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, 2012 | PEACHTREE CITY | 0 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 2, 2012 | HARP | 0 | 0 | 8 | $1K |
| Jul 9, 2007 | PEACHTREE CITY | 0 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Jun 21, 2005 | FAYETTEVILLE | 0 | 0 | 1 | $5K |
| Jun 5, 2005 | STARRS MILL | 0 | 0 | 1 | $10K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2023 | LEES MILL | 0 | $1K |
| Aug 3, 2012 | FAYETTEVILLE | 0 | $100K |
| Aug 2, 2012 | HARP | 0 | $1K |
| Jul 16, 2012 | LEES MILL | 0 | $20K |
| Jul 13, 2012 | PEACHTREE CITY | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 3, 2012 | WOOLSEY | 0 | $10K |
| Mar 1, 2012 | FAYETTEVILLE | 0 | $80K |
| Aug 6, 2011 | FAYETTEVILLE | 0 | $10K |
| Jul 12, 2011 | FAYETTEVILLE | 0 | $25K |
| Jul 9, 2011 | HARP | 0 | $300K |
Other hazards here
More from Fayette County
- Thunderstorm Wind 215
- Hail 93
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Peachtree City Police reported that one man was killed and another was injured due to a lightning strike at the Batter Way docks on Peachtree Lake. The men were fishing on the lake and when they saw the storms coming in, they puled their boat out of the water and took shelter from a storm underneath a tree that was struck by lightning.
The Fayette Citizen reported that lightning struck a home in the Wood Creek subdivision just south of the Peachtree City city limits. Damage to the home was significant. In addition, three fire fighters sustained minor injuries while fighting the fire. The Fayette County Emergency Management Director reported that lightning also struck a home on Stone Haven Drive about 5 miles southwest of Fayetteville. The home was a total loss from the resulting fire. Another home in the High Grove subdivision near by suffered minor damage from a lightning strike.
The Fayette County Emergency Management Director reported that at least two homes and a work shop sustained damage from lightning strikes and related fires. A home in the Lakemont Subdivision southwest of Fayetteville on Wind Ridge Dr was a total loss with $450,000 in damages. Another home on Creek View Trail northwest of Fayetteville was also a total loss with $250,000 in damages. In addition, a workshop on the east side of the county on Morgan Mill Road was destroyed with $75,000 in damages.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Fayette County, Georgia?
50 lightning events are recorded in Fayette County between 1997 and 2023, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Fayette County?
The strongest lightning on record in Fayette County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Fayette 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 Fayette County, Georgia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/georgia/fayette-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.