Worst Colorado Counties For Lightning Injuries, Deaths

People are injured and killed by lightning strikes in Colorado every year, and to mark Colorado Lightning Awareness Week, the National Weather Service has highlighted the counties in our state with the highest fatality and injury rates.

Colorado has had 100 fatal lightning strikes and nearly 500 lightning related injuries since 1980, the agency said.

Counties with the highest deaths and injuries since 1980:

1. El Paso County: 10 fatalities, 84 injuries
2. Larimer County: 10 fatalities, 76 injuries
3. Jefferson County: 9 fatalities, 38 injuries

Rates in metro Denver and Boulder counties:

• Boulder County: 5 fatalities, 31 injuries
• Arapahoe County: 3 fatalities, 28 injuries
• Denver: 3 fatalities, 25 injuries
• Adams County: 4 fatalities, 14 injuries
• Douglas County: 2 fatalities, 17 injuries

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"Unfortunately, there is no place outside that is safe from lightning," a National Weather Service infographic reads. "The only safe place to be when lightning is occurring is either inside a substantial building, or an enclosed automobile"

If you can't make it inside, the agency released the following guidelines:

• Never lie flat on the ground
• Never shelter under an isolated tree
• Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
• Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
• Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)

If you are indoors:

• Avoid using or being close to corded electronics and electrical equipment (cordless equipment is safe to use, including remote controls and cell phones).
• Avoid contact with plumbing, such as taking a shower, bathing, hand-washing dishes or doing laundry.
• Stay away from windows, doors, garages and porches.
• Do not lie on concrete floors or lean against concrete walls.

>> Read more about lightning safety and statistics here.