Lightning, Johnson
- When
- June 8, 11:00 PM CST
- Where
- Johnson County, 10 mi E of Clarksville
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 35.570, -93.460 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Arkansas, June 8, 1998
A HELICOPTER WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING EAST OF CLARKSVILLE, AND HAD TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING AT THE CLARKSVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT. THE HELICOPTER NORMALLY TRANSPORTED PATIENTS FOR A HOSPITAL IN LITTLE ROCK, AND WAS ON ITS WAY TO FORT SMITH.
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
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
A HELICOPTER WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING EAST OF CLARKSVILLE, AND HAD TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING AT THE CLARKSVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT. THE HELICOPTER NORMALLY TRANSPORTED PATIENTS FOR A HOSPITAL IN LITTLE ROCK, AND WAS ON ITS WAY TO FORT SMITH. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED.
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:01 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 Kansas, June 8 to 30, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, June 8, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, June 8 to 9, 1998
- Flooding in Iowa, June 8 to 13, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, June 8, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Kansas, June 8, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, June 8, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, June 8, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, June 8, 1998
- Hail in Kansas, June 8, 1998
- Hail in Colorado, June 8, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Arkansas, June 8 to 9, 1998
More
Every storm in Arkansas in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, June 1998
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: 5655612.