Lightning, La Plata
- When
- August 31, 3:30 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, 3 mi ESE of Durango
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, August 31, 1997
A woman was struck by lightning on a mountain ridge while riding a mountain bike with three friends. The friends were uninjured.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A woman was struck by lightning on a mountain ridge while riding a mountain bike with three friends. The friends were uninjured. The victim was in between two other cyclists, separated about 15 yards apart from each other. The fourth cyclist was 75 yards further up the ridge when the lightning struck.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 200 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.
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, La Plata | 1997-08-31 | 39 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | 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
- Damaging Winds in Colorado, August 31, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 31, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in North Dakota, August 31, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, August 31, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 31, 1997
- Drought in Maryland, August 31, 1997
- High Wind in Minnesota, August 31, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, August 31, 1997
- Hail in Colorado, August 31, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 31, 1997
- Hail in Kansas, August 31, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, August 31, 1997
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, August 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: 5618582.