Lightning, Olmsted
- When
- May 16, 7:30 PM CST
- Where
- Olmsted County, Rochester
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Minnesota, May 16, 1999
Lightning struck a home in Rochester, blowing a hole in the wall of the kitchen as well as blasting the bark off a tree in the backyard. In addition, the lightning also set off an explosion in a nearby sewer, which damaged three homes and caused a gasoline leak.
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 ARX wrote it up.
Lightning struck a home in Rochester, blowing a hole in the wall of the kitchen as well as blasting the bark off a tree in the backyard. In addition, the lightning also set off an explosion in a nearby sewer, which damaged three homes and caused a gasoline leak. Several neighborhoods were evacuated.
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:28 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
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Iowa, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 16, 1999
- Flooding in Iowa, May 16 to 20, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Oklahoma, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Rip Current in California, May 16, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Wisconsin, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kansas, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Hail in Kansas, May 16, 1999
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, May 1999
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: 5696212.