Lightning Strike in Florida, April 23, 1997

Name: Lightning Strike in Florida, April 23, 1997
Start: 1997-04-23T11:30
End: 1997-04-23T11:30
Location: Florida

April 23, 1997 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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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.

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Polk

When: April 23, 11:30 AM EST
Where: Polk County, 4 mi W of Lakeland
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 34 year old female was struck in the head, thrown three feet and killed instantly by lightning while standing outdoors in a field next to a steel fence near the intersection of exit 15 of I-4 and Swindell Street. Very light rain was falling at the time of the lightning strike shortly after a severe thunderstorm had moved through the area.

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, Polk	1997-04-23	34	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

Every storm in Florida in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, April 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: 5611401.