54
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$3.1M
Property damage
Lightning in Dane County, Wisconsin: 54 recorded events between 1996 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #31 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Lightning in Dane County, Wisconsin: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for lightning in Dane County is the 2000s, when 25 of the county's 54 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 Dane County archive, lightning makes up 4.1% of all recorded severe weather across 10 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #31 for this hazard and #2 within Wisconsin, putting it in the 98.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Aug is the peak month for lightning in Dane County with 19 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 27, 2007 | DOWNTOWN MADISON | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 17, 1997 | MADISON | 0 | 0 | 6 | $0 |
| Aug 21, 2018 | CROSS PLAINS | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 1999 | COTTAGE GROVE | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 1999 | MADISON | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 24, 2026 | NORA | — | $20K |
| Mar 6, 2022 | DEERFIELD | 0 | $200K |
| Oct 30, 2018 | MADISON MOREY ARPT | 0 | $440K |
| Aug 21, 2018 | CROSS PLAINS | 0 | $500K |
| Aug 21, 2018 | CROSS PLAINS | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 12, 2016 | BLOOMING GROVE | 0 | $4K |
| Aug 19, 2016 | MADISON TRUAX AIRPORT | 0 | $10K |
| May 11, 2014 | CROSS PLAINS | 0 | $2K |
| Jul 27, 2011 | BLACK EARTH | 0 | $10K |
| Jun 23, 2010 | DOWNTOWN MADISON | 0 | $10K |
Other hazards here
More from Dane County
- Hail 555
- Thunderstorm Wind 480
- Tornado 75
- Flash Flood 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck the middle turret on the south side of the historic 1894 Red Gym on the UW-Madison campus (Dane Co). The outerbrick in a 4' by6' area was blown out, much of the inner brick crumbled, and a hole was knocked out in a ventilation duct, for a total of $25,000 in damage.
Lightning struck a power-pole, causing the attached power-line to fall onto a water-covered ground around a bus stop. As a result, three people were electrocuted – two of them while standing in the water waiting for a bus, and another person who got off of the bus. All three fatalities were indirectly-related to lightning since the people weren't struck by the lightning bolt. Two other people were injured and treated for shock at a hospital.
Lightning struck a blew apart a 60-foot pine tree which was about 30 feet from a residential home. Part of the generated electrical current fried the home's telephone line. The time is estimated within a plus or minus 15 minutes.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many lightning events are on record in Dane County, Wisconsin?
54 lightning events are recorded in Dane County between 1996 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest lightning recorded in Dane County?
The strongest lightning on record in Dane County measured 0.
Where does the lightning data for Dane 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 Dane County, Wisconsin.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wisconsin/dane-county/lightning/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.