Lightning, San Juan
- When
- August 3, 12:20 PM MST
- Where
- San Juan County, 10 mi SSW of Silverton
- Injuries
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 37.764, -107.676 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, August 3, 1996
A woman and her three children at Potato Lake sought shelter under a tree when it was struck by lightning. All of them suffered first degree burns.
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
- 4
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 GJT wrote it up.
A woman and her three children at Potato Lake sought shelter under a tree when it was struck by lightning. All of them suffered first degree burns. One child, an eight year old boy, had stopped breathing, but was resuscitated by nearby hikers. The family's dog was the only fatality.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 152 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:17 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
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, August 3, 1996
- Lightning Strike in New York, August 3, 1996
- Tornado in North Dakota, August 3, 1996
- Flash Flood in Nebraska, August 3 to 4, 1996
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 3, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, August 3, 1996
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 3, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, August 3, 1996
- Lightning Strike in North Dakota, August 3, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Mississippi, August 3, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, August 3, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, August 3, 1996
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, August 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: 5567219.