Missouri, 2000

Lightning Strike in Missouri, July 15, 2000

July 15, 2000 · NWS LSX · 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
4
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 St Louis radar (KLSX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Iron

When
July 15, 3:00 PM CST
Where
Iron County, 6 mi SW of Arcadia
Injuries
4 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
37.504, -90.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four Boy Scouts were injured by a lightning strike while camping on Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest peak in Missouri. The lightning hit a pine tree about 130 feet away. The electricity apparently went through the roots into the boys tent, blowing 4 holes into the bottom of the tent. One boy was knock unconscious. He was not breathing and would likely have died were it not for CPR applied by one of the Scout Leaders. The other boys suffered burns from first to third degree on their backs and arms.

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

More

Every storm in Missouri in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, July 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: 5165047.