Lightning, Coahoma
- When
- March 2, 8:55 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
- Where
- Coahoma County, Jonestown
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 34.229, -90.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Mississippi, March 2, 1997
A house was badly damaged by a fire started by lightning. Four children ranging in age from 18 months to 4 years old were killed in the fire.
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
- $10,000
- 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 MEG wrote it up.
A house was badly damaged by a fire started by lightning. Four children ranging in age from 18 months to 4 years old were killed in the fire.
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:54 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
- Damaging Wind in Texas, March 2, 1997
- Flood in West Virginia, March 2 to 7, 1997
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 2 to 15, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Utah, March 2 to 4, 1997
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 2 to 9, 1997
- Flash Flood in Ohio, March 2, 1997
- Flood in Ohio, March 2 to 6, 1997
- Flood in West Virginia, March 2 to 3, 1997
- Flooding in Indiana, March 2 to 15, 1997
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 2 to 31, 1997
- Flooding in Ohio, March 2 to 11, 1997
- Flooding in Indiana, March 2 to 11, 1997
More
Every storm in Mississippi in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, March 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: 5595266.