Lightning, Hamilton
- When
- May 7, 11:26 AM CST
- Where
- Hamilton County, Webster City
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 42.384, -93.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 7, 1997
Thunderstorms moved across Hamilton County. Lightning struck a window air conditioner on a house in Webster City.
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
- $15,000
- 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 moved across Hamilton County. Lightning struck a window air conditioner on a house in Webster City. It set the wall on fire. Though the fire damage was slight, considerable smoke damage occurred.
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:25 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
- Lightning Strike 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
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: 5613754.