Lightning, Wilkes
- When
- June 20, 3:30 PM EST
- Where
- Wilkes County, 7 mi NW of Wilkesboro
- Property damage
- $8,000
- Coordinates
- 36.206, -81.163 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 20, 1996
Thunderstorms during the afternoon hours on the 20th resulted in damaging lightning in Wilkes County. Lightning started a fire which destroyed an abandoned house 1 mile south of Ronda.
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
- $8,000
- 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.
Thunderstorms during the afternoon hours on the 20th resulted in damaging lightning in Wilkes County. Lightning started a fire which destroyed an abandoned house 1 mile south of Ronda. Another lightning strike started a fire which destroyed an abandoned house 7 miles northwest of Wilkesboro.
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 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 South Carolina, June 20, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, June 20, 1996
- Hail in Texas, June 20, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Flooding in Iowa, June 20 to 28, 1996
- Tornado in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Tornado in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Tornado in Nebraska, June 20, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, June 20, 1996
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, 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: 5551503.