Lightning, Cotton
- When
- July 11, 1:00 AM CST to 3:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cotton County, Walters
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.290, -98.372 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, July 11, 1998
Isolated thunderstorms developed over central and southwest Oklahoma the morning of the 11th. One thunderstorm was responsible for a lightning strike at the Historic Eagle Park in Walters in Cotton County resulting in a fire that destroyed a skating rink, ghost mine, carousel, and several bumper cars.
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
- $52,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 OUN wrote it up.
Isolated thunderstorms developed over central and southwest Oklahoma the morning of the 11th. One thunderstorm was responsible for a lightning strike at the Historic Eagle Park in Walters in Cotton County resulting in a fire that destroyed a skating rink, ghost mine, carousel, and several bumper cars. Also, a severe thunderstorm containing damaging straight line winds 4 miles west of Prague in Lincoln County snapped a tree, destroyed a barn, damaged a trailer home, and blew a camper from a pickup truck over a fence and into some trees.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Lincoln
- When
- July 11, 4:30 AM CST to 4:45 AM CST
- Where
- Lincoln County, 4 mi W of Prague
- Property damage
- $12,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.480, -96.750
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Oklahoma, July 11, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 11, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 11, 1998
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 11, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Montana, July 11, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Montana, July 11, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 11, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 11, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 11, 1998
- High Surf in Hawaii, July 11 to 13, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Montana, July 11, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, July 11 to 12, 1998
More
Every storm in Oklahoma in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, 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: 5672580, 5672581.