Lightning, Lafayette
- When
- May 18, 9:30 AM CST
- Where
- Lafayette County, 4 mi N of Belmont
- Property damage
- $17,000
- Coordinates
- 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning struck and killed 13 milk cows
Hail and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, May 18, 1997
2 hail, 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $17,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:38 UTC.
Event by event
2 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Lafayette
- When
- May 18, 4:40 PM CST
- Where
- Lafayette County, 1 mi W of New Digging
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.530, -90.350
Hail, Walworth
- When
- May 18, 6:10 PM CST
- Where
- Walworth County, Genoa City
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.500, -88.330
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arizona, May 18 to 20, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, May 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, May 18, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, May 18, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, May 18, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, May 18, 1997
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 18, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 18, 1997
- Hail in Kansas, May 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind in West Virginia, May 18, 1997
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, 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: 5598255, 5598256, 5598257.