Lightning, Pitkin
- When
- July 24, 6:15 PM MST
- Where
- Pitkin County, 12 mi WNW of Aspen
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 39.217, -106.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 24, 1997
A man was struck by lightning and fell off a cliff while hiking up a ridge above Capitol Creek. The county coroner determined the cause of death was the lightning and not the subsequent fall.
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 man was struck by lightning and fell off a cliff while hiking up a ridge above Capitol Creek. The county coroner determined the cause of death was the lightning and not the subsequent fall.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:11 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, Pitkin | 1997-07-24 | 21 | Male | 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
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, July 24 to 25, 1997
- Tornadoes in Virginia, July 24, 1997
- Flood in Alaska, July 24 to 31, 1997
- Flash Flood in Iowa, July 24, 1997
- Damaging Wind and Waterspout in North Carolina, July 24, 1997
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, July 24, 1997
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in South Dakota, July 24 to 25, 1997
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 24, 1997
- Heavy Rain in New York, July 24 to 25, 1997
- High Wind in North Carolina, July 24, 1997
- Flood in Iowa, July 24, 1997
- Flood in Iowa, July 24, 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: 5610806.