Lightning, Lake
- When
- June 28, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lake County, 16 mi E of Ely
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 47.523, -91.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Minnesota, June 28, 1996
A 25 year old man was struck and killed by lightning while camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The victim was an instructor for the Voyageur Outward Bound School.
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
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- 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 DLH wrote it up.
A 25 year old man was struck and killed by lightning while camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The victim was an instructor for the Voyageur Outward Bound School. Another man was knocked unconscious. The incident occurred at a camp site near the Lake One Dam on the Kawishiwi River.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Lake | 1996-06-28 | 25 | Male | Camping | Direct |
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 North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Tornado in Montana, June 28, 1996
- Tornado in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, June 28, 1996
- Hail in Utah, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, June 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, June 28, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, June 28, 1996
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, June 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: 5583418.