Lightning Strike in Kentucky, August 8, 2000

Name: Lightning Strike in Kentucky, August 8, 2000
Start: 2000-08-08T15:00
End: 2000-08-08T15:00
Location: Kentucky

August 8, 2000 · NWS JKL · 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.

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Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
Property damage: None recorded
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.

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Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Rowan

When: August 8, 3:00 PM EST
Where: Rowan County, Farmers
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.196, -83.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A family of three including the mother, father, and infant daughter lived in a mobile home and had gone to their relatives' home to seek shelter in the basement. The family was struck by lightning outside between the car and home when the father died. The 2 month old infant received a minor head contusion and scratches after her father was struck and killed by lightning with the infant in his arms. The mother was not injured.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Rowan	2000-08-08	26	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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 Kentucky in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, August 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: 5169645.