Lightning, Lafayette
- When
- July 20, 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lafayette County, Duson
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 30.207, -92.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 20, 1996
A man was struck by lightning for the second time in his life, when a lightning bolt struck a utility pole and a side charge travelled 40 yards through the air to the man. He was treated and released from the hospital.
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
- 1
- 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 LCH wrote it up.
A man was struck by lightning for the second time in his life, when a lightning bolt struck a utility pole and a side charge travelled 40 yards through the air to the man. He was treated and released from the hospital.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Hail in South Dakota, July 20, 1996
- Strong Wind in Massachusetts, July 20, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, July 20, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 20, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 20, 1996
- High Wind in New York, July 20, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 20, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 20, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Kansas, July 20, 1996
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, July 20, 1996
- Flood in Missouri, July 20 to 25, 1996
- Flood in Missouri, July 20 to 21, 1996
More
Every storm in Louisiana in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5557478.