Lightning, Montezuma
- When
- July 22, 7:45 PM MST
- Where
- Montezuma County, 8 mi E of Cortez
- Property damage
- $60,000
- Coordinates
- 37.338, -108.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 22, 1997
Lightning struck a house which was under construction and nearly completed. The house burned to the ground.
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
- $60,000
- 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 struck a house which was under construction and nearly completed. The house burned to the ground.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 195 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:42 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
- Flash Flood and Hail in Nebraska, July 22, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Ohio, July 22, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Georgia, July 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strikes in Texas, July 22, 1997
- Flash Flood in Iowa, July 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, July 22, 1997
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 22, 1997
- Hail in South Dakota, July 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, July 22, 1997
- Flash Flood in Alabama, July 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, July 22, 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: 5610805.