Lightning, Merced
- When
- April 17, 5:30 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, 11 mi WSW of Santa Nella
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail and Lightning Strike in California, April 17, 2000
Report from California Highway Patrol that a woman's car had been struck by lightning going over Pacheco Pass during a thunderstorm. CHP also reported 1/4 inch hail causing several accidents due to heavy rain and hail on the roadway.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 1
- Property damage
- $30,000
- 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 HNX wrote it up.
Report from California Highway Patrol that a woman's car had been struck by lightning going over Pacheco Pass during a thunderstorm. CHP also reported 1/4 inch hail causing several accidents due to heavy rain and hail on the roadway.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Merced
- When
- April 17, 5:30 PM PST to 5:44 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, 11 mi WSW of Santa Nella
- Measured
- 0.25 in hail
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in California, April 17, 2000
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Virginia, April 17, 2000
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, April 17, 2000
- Winter Storm and Flood in California, April 17 to 18, 2000
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, April 17, 2000
- Tornado in Virginia, April 17, 2000
- Flash Flooding in Ohio, April 17, 2000
- Hail in North Carolina, April 17, 2000
- Flash Flood in Virginia, April 17, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 17, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 17, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 17, 2000
More
Every storm in California in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 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: 5142476, 5142477.