Home » 11 People Have Died This Year In U.S. From Being Struck By Lightning, 5 Fatalities In Florida

11 People Have Died This Year In U.S. From Being Struck By Lightning, 5 Fatalities In Florida

By  //  August 1, 2017

lightning can strike anywhere, at any time

Eleven people have died so far this year in the U.S. from being struck by lightning. Although lightning can strike anywhere, at any time, it’s valuable to know where lightning deaths have occurred and what victims were doing when they were struck. The National Weather Service’s lightning fatalities statistics page contains all this information. How vulnerable is your area to lightning? (Rich Otto image)

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Eleven people have died so far this year in the U.S. from being struck by lightning.

Although lightning can strike anywhere, at any time, it’s valuable to know where lightning deaths have occurred and what victims were doing when they were struck.

The National Weather Service’s lightning fatalities statistics page contains all this information.

How vulnerable is your area to lightning?

VIDEO: Florida Leads Nation In Lightning Strike Fatalities, Quickly Take Cover When Storms ApproachRelated Story:
VIDEO: Florida Leads Nation In Lightning Strike Fatalities, Quickly Take Cover When Storms Approach

U.S. Lightning Deaths in 2017: 11

No.

Date

Day

ST

City

Age

Sex

Location

Activity

Victim
1 5/7 Sun CO Douglas County 37 F Open Field Near Tree Riding Horse Laura Miller
2 5/17 Wed FL Jensen Beach 46 M Near pool area Construction Guadalupe Salinas
3 6/27 Tue FL Pembroke Pines 34 M Construction site Construction Edwin Ramos Jarquin Armas
4 6/29 Thu FL Ft. Myers 0 M Outside home Mother walking Owen Davidson
5 7/3 Mon TX Midland 43 M Outside home Sitting on wall David Ortiz
6 7/10 Mon FL Baker 35 M Under tree Camping Jeremy Harper
7 7/11 Tue NC Jacksonville, MCAS New River 23 M Tarmac Working on aircraft Sylar James
8 7/18 Tue NC Sanford 39 M Sheltering under tree Walking to store David Everette
9 7/21 Fri AL Lee County, Lake Harding 34 M On lake Boating Toby Burrow
10 7/26 Wed AL Dothan 16 M On porch under tree Stepped onto porch Aron Eugene Dunn
11 7/28 Fri FL Satellite Beach ? M Beach ?

 

Lightning Fatalities 2017 by State

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2017 Lightning Fatality Demographics
State
Gender
Age*
Day Of Week*
By Month
AL 2 F 1 (9%) 0-9 1 (9%) Sun 1 (9%) 2017 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
09
08
07
10 Yr Avg
CO 1 M 10 (91%) 10-19 1 (9%) Mon 2 (18%) Jan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
FL 5 20-29 1 (9%) Tue 3 (27%) Feb
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
NC 2 30-39 5 (45%) Wed 2 (18%) Mar
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
TX 1 40-49 2 (18%) Thu 1 (9%) Apr
0
3
2
0
1
2
0
0
1
0
1
1
50-59 0 (0%) Fri 2 (18%) May
2
1
4
5
5
0
1
4
2
2
5
3
60-69 0 (0%) Sat 0 (0%) Jun
1
4
11
3
2
3
5
7
12
9
12
7
70-79 0 (0%) Jul
8
12
5
9
6
13
9
11
10
14
10
10
80-89 0 (0%) Aug
 
13
4
5
4
6
6
4
3
0
9
5
unknown 0 (0%) Sep
 
3
1
3
5
2
4
2
4
1
5
3
Oct
 
0
 
1
 
1
1
1
1
0
2
1
Nov
 
0
 
0
 
 
0
0
0
0
0
0
Dec
 
1
 
 
 
 
0
0
0
0
0
0
Year 11**
39
27
26
23
28
26
29
34
28
45
31*
*Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100 percent. ** Known Fatalities to date
Note: Monthly averages are based on a 10-year average from 2007 to 2016. Due to rounding, the sum of the monthly averages may not equal the yearly average.

Male_Female fatalties pictogram. See table above for list.

Fatality statistics for past years