Updated at 1:20 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office posted on social media Saturday that they have now identified the woman and that her family was with her at the hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.
The sheriff's office declined to release her name or other information.
Original story below.
A woman was hit by lightning in Boulder County, and officials don’t know who she is
Officials are trying to identify a woman who was struck by lightning in Boulder County on Thursday.
The woman, estimated to be between 20 and 30 years old, was found lying beneath a tree that had been struck by lightning around 5:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Lasalle Street in Superior. She was wearing running shorts and sneakers.
Bystanders administered CPR and she was taken to a hospital. Boulder County officials say she’s breathing independently, but remains in critical condition and has not been able to communicate her identity.
The woman wasn’t carrying identification and her cell phone was severely damaged in the strike. They say she is roughly 5’5” tall and 120 pounds. She has red or auburn hair and was wearing a dark grey windbreaker, a green running shirt and striped black shorts. The woman has three butterfly tattoos on her upper right arm.
“Multiple efforts to identify her, including fingerprinting and review of missing persons reports in Boulder County, have not been successful,” a spokeswoman from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said. “She was not carrying identification and her cell phone was severely damaged and inoperable.”
It’s rare to be struck by lightning, though more people die from strikes in Colorado than most other states, according to the Lightning Safety Council.
Fewer than four people a year in Colorado die by lightning strike, according to the safety council’s data. While the numbers shift around a bit, the state consistently ranks in the top five or so over several decades of keeping track. Last year, two experienced hunters from out of state died on a trip in Conejos County, and the year before, a lightning strike killed a rancher in Jackson County, along with 34 head of cattle.
In Boulder County on Thursday, there were 60 lightning strikes within a 7- to 11-minute timeframe surrounding the strike that felled the woman, said Kenley Bonner, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Between 30 and 33 strikes hit the ground in that area, she said. Bonner said the strike that hit the young runner happened at exactly 5:30 p.m.
Bonner said April marked the approach of severe weather season in the state.
“This is the time of year we start to see this, it’s shoulder season and we’re approaching the severe weather season,” Bonner said.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated after the woman was identified.
