Lightning, Rutherford
- When
- February 3, 9:37 AM CST
- Where
- Rutherford County, Murfreesboro
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 35.843, -86.417 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Tennessee, February 3, 1997
2 construction workers were injured by lightning while working on the new library for Middle Tennessee State University. Power was knocked out to 500 homes when lightning struck a transformer.
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
- 2
- Property damage
- $100,000
- 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 OHX wrote it up.
2 construction workers were injured by lightning while working on the new library for Middle Tennessee State University. They were treated for electrical shock and released from a local hospital.Power was knocked out to 500 homes when lightning struck a transformer.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Flash Flood in California, February 3, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Iowa, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Iowa, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Illinois, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Iowa, February 3 to 4, 1997
- High Surf in Hawaii, February 3 to 4, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, February 3 to 4, 1997
More
Every storm in Tennessee in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, February 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: 5596528.