Lightning, Koochiching
- When
- August 16, 3:00 PM CST
- Where
- Koochiching County, International Falls
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 48.245, -93.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Minnesota, August 16, 1998
Lightning struck and shattered a 20-foot fiberglass church steeple. The lightning also caused a fire that was confined to the steeple and roof.
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
- $25,000
- 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 DLH wrote it up.
Lightning struck and shattered a 20-foot fiberglass church steeple. The lightning also caused a fire that was confined to the steeple and roof. No one was injured.
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
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 16, 1998
- Rip Current in New Jersey, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Flood in North Carolina, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Texas, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 16, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 16, 1998
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, 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: 5664876.