Lightning, Clarke
- When
- March 17, 7:15 AM CST
- Where
- Clarke County, Jackson
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Coordinates
- 31.677, -87.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Alabama, March 17, 1996
LIGHTNING STRUCK A CHURCH A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE SERVICES WERE TO BEGIN AND A FIRE STARTED. PART OF THE CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1899 AND THIS WAS THE AREA THAT SUFFERED DAMAGE.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.
LIGHTNING STRUCK A CHURCH A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE SERVICES WERE TO BEGIN AND A FIRE STARTED. PART OF THE CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1899 AND THIS WAS THE AREA THAT SUFFERED DAMAGE. THE FIRE WAS CONTAINED IN THE OLDER PART AND IT TOOK A COUPLE OF HOURS TO PUT THE FIRE OUT.
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:12 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 17, 1996
- High Wind in Utah, March 17, 1996
- Winter Storm in Colorado, March 17, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 17, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 17, 1996
- High Wind in New Mexico, March 17, 1996
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, March 17 to 18, 1996
- High Wind in Alaska, March 17 to 18, 1996
- Hail in Virginia, March 17, 1996
- Hail in Alabama, March 17, 1996
- Hail in Georgia, March 17, 1996
- Hail in Georgia, March 17, 1996
More
Every storm in Alabama in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, March 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5552296.