Lightning, Montezuma
- When
- July 16, 2:00 PM MST
- Where
- Montezuma County, 8 mi NW of Cortez
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Coordinates
- 37.338, -108.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 16, 1997
Lightning caused numerous brush and forest fires in extreme southwest Colorado which spread rapidly due to high winds. One fire near Hovenweep National Monument burned 160 acres and destroyed a mobile home, a boat, and several outbuildings.
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
- $150,000
- 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 GJT wrote it up.
Lightning caused numerous brush and forest fires in extreme southwest Colorado which spread rapidly due to high winds. One fire near Hovenweep National Monument burned 160 acres and destroyed a mobile home, a boat, and several outbuildings. It also consumed eight power poles and lines, resulting in power outages. Nearly 400 acres of vegetation was burned in Montezuma County.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 195 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:59 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 16, 1997
- Heat in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 16, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Dakota, July 16, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 16, 1997
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 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: 5610807.