Lightning, Watauga
- When
- July 28, 8:30 PM EST
- Where
- Watauga County, Boone
- Property damage
- $510,000
- Coordinates
- 36.231, -81.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in North Carolina, July 28, 1996
Lightning started a fire in a large downtown business in Boone that destroyed an 8,200 square foot building. Damage was estimated at $440,000.
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
- $510,000
- 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 RNK wrote it up.
Lightning started a fire in a large downtown business in Boone that destroyed an 8,200 square foot building. Damage was estimated at $440,000. Nearby buildings sustained fire and smoke damage estimated near $70,000.
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:27 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
- Rip Current in Florida, July 28, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, July 28, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 28, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, July 28, 1996
- Tornado in North Dakota, July 28, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, July 28, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 28, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 28, 1996
- Heavy Rain in Nevada, July 28, 1996
- Hail in Colorado, July 28, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, July 28, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, July 28, 1996
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5564579.