Lightning, Teller
- When
- August 8, 2:00 PM MST
- Where
- Teller County, 6 mi E of Woodland Park
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.882, -105.162 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, August 8, 1998
Zach Powers, 4, and his 10-year-old brother Dustyn, took shelter under a tree when a storm hit during a family hike at the Rampart Reservoir. Dustyn held an umbrella and held his brother's hand.
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
- 1
- Injuries
- 1
- 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 PUB wrote it up.
Zach Powers, 4, and his 10-year-old brother Dustyn, took shelter under a tree when a storm hit during a family hike at the Rampart Reservoir. Dustyn held an umbrella and held his brother's hand. Lightning apparently struck the umbrella, travelled through Dustyn and then Zach. Zach was airlifted to Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room. Dustyn received burns to his hands.
The radar
The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:57 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Teller | 1998-08-08 | 4 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
- Lightning Strike in Mississippi, August 8, 1998
- Flood in North Carolina, August 8, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Michigan, August 8, 1998
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, August 8, 1998
- Hail in Arkansas, August 8, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, August 8, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, August 8, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, August 8, 1998
- Flood and Lightning Strike in Arizona, August 8, 1998
- Hail in Arkansas, August 8, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arkansas, August 8, 1998
- Hail in Arkansas, August 8, 1998
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, August 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: 5661546.