Lightning, Emmet
- When
- May 7, 7:30 AM CST
- Where
- Emmet County, 4 mi E of Estherville
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Coordinates
- 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 7, 1997
Thunderstorms fired up during the early morning hours and crossed over Emmet County. Although they were not severe, lightning struck a farm house and barn east of Estherville.
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
- $40,000
- 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 DMX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms fired up during the early morning hours and crossed over Emmet County. Although they were not severe, lightning struck a farm house and barn east of Estherville. They were set on fire. Both were saved, but some fire damage and considerable smoke damage occurred in spite of the relatively minor fire.
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 167 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:32 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 Flooding in Oklahoma, May 7 to 8, 1997
- Tornado in Nebraska, May 7, 1997
- Hail in Kansas, May 7, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 7, 1997
- Hail in Kansas, May 7 to 26, 1997
- Tornado in Kansas, May 7, 1997
- Flood in Iowa, May 7, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 7, 1997
- Flood in Iowa, May 7, 1997
- Cold in West Virginia, May 7, 1997
- Hail in Iowa, May 7, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Kansas, May 7, 1997
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 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: 5613612.