Rancher and 34 head of cattle killed by lightning strike in Jackson County

JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado – A rancher and more than 30 head of cattle were killed by a lightning strike in Jackson County on Saturday, according to the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.

As Steamboat Radio first reported, the lightning killed the animals and 51-year-old Mike Morgan, who had just finished branding the cattle and was about to feed them when the lightning struck. About 100 cattle fell over, 34 of them dying.

The first emergency call came in at around 2:08 p.m.

Jackson County Coroner George Crocket told Steamboat Radio that a storm had developed northwest of Rand on Saturday afternoon.

The The National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder noticed the storm as it moved east on Saturday and warned people in the foothills and Font Range to go indoors if they heard thunder.

The NWS reported that since 1980, an average of two people have been killed and 12 injured by lightning strikes each year in Colorado. Most lightning deaths occur in El Paso County.

In an average year, lightning strikes the ground in Colorado about 500,000 times, the NWS said.

In 2019, Denver7 investigated the parts of Colorado where lightning strikes occur most frequently. Check it out below.

Which parts of Colorado have the most lightning?