Lightning Strike in Kentucky, July 30, 1998

Name: Lightning Strike in Kentucky, July 30, 1998
Start: 1998-07-30T17:00
End: 1998-07-30T17:00
Location: Kentucky

July 30, 1998 · NWS PAH · 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
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.

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 5 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, McCracken

When: July 30, 5:00 PM CST
Where: McCracken County, Paducah
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Nearly continuous lightning from a very strong thunderstorm caused scattered damage in and near Paducah. Two direct lightning strikes on the runway lighting system at Barkley Regional Airport caused the cancellation of the only two evening commercial passenger flights. Small electrical fires were started by lightning at two separate houses in Paducah, and a tree was downed by lightning in the city.

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

Every storm in Kentucky in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, July 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: 5661460.