Lightning, Madison
- When
- January 24, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Madison County, Huntsville
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 34.763, -86.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Alabama, January 24, 1997
A news reporter with a Huntsville television station was slightly injured when lightning struck a pole near him and traveled through the ground and through him. He was covering a weather story at the time.
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
- $10,000
- 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 BMX wrote it up.
A news reporter with a Huntsville television station was slightly injured when lightning struck a pole near him and traveled through the ground and through him. He was covering a weather story at the time.
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
- Tornado and Hail in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Alabama, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornadoes in Kentucky, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 24 to 25, 1997
More
Every storm in Alabama in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, January 1997
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: 5587959.