New Mexico, 1997

Lightning Strike in New Mexico, August 3, 1997

August 3, 1997 · NWS ABQ · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
2
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 national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Santa Fe

When
August 3, 11:30 AM MST
Where
Santa Fe County, 15 mi NE of Santa Fe
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
35.507, -105.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 41 year old man hiking near the summit of Santa Fe Baldy (12600 ft) was killed by lightning. The man's 12 year old son and another hiker were knocked down by the lightning but only slightly injured.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Lightning, Santa Fe1997-08-0341MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

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

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 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: 5619264.