Lightning Strike in Alabama, March 19, 2000

Name: Lightning Strike in Alabama, March 19, 2000
Start: 2000-03-19T19:55
End: 2000-03-19T19:55
Location: Alabama

March 19, 2000 · NWS BMX · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
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 national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Tallapoosa

When: March 19, 7:55 PM CST
Where: Tallapoosa County, Alexander City
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 32.862, -85.797 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning apparently struck a small tree near a home and traveled through the ground to a metal pole with an electric light. From there the lightning traveled along the wiring approximately 100 feet and into the basement of the house. The lightning left a ditch about 8 inches wide and 10 inches deep. Along this path some concrete steps were damaged with large pieces thrown around. Inside the basement, the lightning knocked a hole in the wall about 3 to 4 feet round, blew the fuse box off the wall, blew fuses out of the box, and burned additional wiring. Though there was smoke in the house, no fire was found.

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 Alabama in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, March 2000

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: 5137315.