79% (22) were male
36% (10) were ages 20-29
25% (7) were ages 10-19
36% (10) were under trees
36% (10) were near water
14% (4) were just outside a house
2008 Lightning Fatality Demographics
———————————————————————————————–
By State
In 2008, lightning deaths have occurred in 19 states. Florida and Colorado lead the nation with 4 fatalities. South Carolina, Maine, and Ohio have had 2 fatalities.
FL – 4
CO – 4
OH – 2
SC – 2
ME – 2
KS – 1
AR – 1
CT – 1
IA – 1
PA – 1
RI – 1
MA – 1
VA – 1
WI – 1
NC – 1
MS – 1
TX – 1
NJ – 1
MO – 1
———-
By Sex
In 2008, about 80% of the fatalities were male.
Male – 22 (79%)
Female – 6 (21%)
———-
By Age Category
In 2008, The majority of lightning victims were young. Almost 65% of the victims were under the age of 30.
Unknown 1 ( 4%)
0- 9 – 1 ( 4%)
10-19 – 7 ( 25%)
20-29 – 10 ( 36%)
30-39 – 4 ( 14%)
40-49 – 3 ( 11%)
50-59 – 2 ( 7%)
60-69 – 1 ( 4%)
70-79 – 0 ( 0%)
80-89 – 0 ( 0%)
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
By Day Of Week
In 2008, Saturday and Sunday had the most lightning fatalities with the two days accounting for about 43% of the fatalities.
Sun – 6 ( 21%)
Mon – 3 ( 11%)
Tue – 3 ( 11%)
Wed – 1 ( 4%)
Thu – 5 ( 18%)
Fri – 4 ( 14%)
Sat – 6 ( 21%)
By Month
In 2008, half of the total number of fatalities occurred in July. Typically, the month of July is the peak in summertime activities, the peak in lightning strikes, and the peak in lightning fatalities. Somewhat surprisingly, 2008 had only one lightning fatality after July and that was caused when a branch from a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on a woman.
2008 2007 2006 NORMAL
Jan. – 1 0 1 0
Feb. – 1 0 0 0
Mar. – - 1 0 1
Apr. – - 1 3 2
May. – 2 5 5 7
June - 9 12 10 14
July - 14 10 16 18
Aug. – 0 9 7 13
Sept. – 1 5 4 6
Oct. – 0 2 2 1
Nov. – 0 0 0 0
Dec. - - 0 0 0
YEAR 28* 45 48 62
* – Known Fatalities to date
Note: Normal is based on 30-yr average of 62 deaths per year (1977-2006) multiplied by the average monthly percentage of annual deaths from 1959-1994 as documented in NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-193 with Dec 1961 plane crash fatalities removed from the data.
In summary, deaths are primarily young men, outdoors. For more information, go to the NOAA site (www.lightning safety.noaa.gov).
Peter Geiger is the Editor of the Farmers' Almanac. 
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
