The dataset details the locations and attributes of canopy disturbances in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, that were suspected to have been caused by lightning strikes. Disturbances were located by surveying 23 km of trails and assessing whether disturbances (clusters of dead or damaged trees) had damage signatures consistent with lighting. Only disturbances that were thought to potentially have been caused by lightning were recorded. As well as providing a qualitative assessment of the confidence that the damage was caused by lightning, the dataset contains the number of dead and damaged trees in different size classes, as well as the taxonomic identity and degree of crown damage experienced by canopy trees within the putative strike. Photographs of a subset of strikes are also provided. Data were collected as part of the project Lightning in African tropical forests: from tree mortality to carbon dynamics (NE/W003872/1). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d47e78bc-2227-4bc7-90ae-9ec871c52bec
