Lightning, Cook
- When
- July 23, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Cook County, Calumet City
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 41.895, -87.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Illinois, July 23, 2001
A 26 year old man was struck by lightning while sitting on his front porch. The lightning entered his body through his mouth and exited through his calf, throwing him against the front wall of the house.
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
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
A 26 year old man was struck by lightning while sitting on his front porch. The lightning entered his body through his mouth and exited through his calf, throwing him against the front wall of the house. After a series of tests, he was released from the hospital the next day with only minor burns and bruises.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 23, 1:45 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 1:45 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
245 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2001
SOME RELIEF FROM HEAT WITH THUNDERSTORMS RIPPING ACRS NRN IL. THIS
TEMPORARY SINCE DEWPTS STILL IN MIDDLE OR UPPER 70S TONIGHT.
SINCE HIGH DEWPTS...ERGO HIGH HEAT INDICES IN MIDDLE/UPPER 70S...ARE
PART OF HEAT WRNG/ADV...WILL CONTINUE SAID WRNG/ADV INTO TONIGHT AND
PROBABLY CANCEL IT OVERNIGHT.
A WEAKER BAND OF SHOWERS BEHIND FIRST WEAK FRONT. PASSAGE OF THIS
WEAK FRONT MAY DROP DWPTS A BIT BUT SHOULD NOT AMOUNT TO SIGNIFICANT
WARM AIR INTRUSION UNTIL SECONDARY FRONT SWEEPS IN AROUND MIDNIGHT.
ETA AND NGM MUCH WARMER TUESDAY ON HIGH TEMPS THAN AVN...WHICH HAS
BEEN VELLY GUDE TOOMEE...AND WOULD PREFER TO FOLLOW THE LATTER. FNT
DOESNT MOVE TOO FAR SOUTH...PROBABLY CENTRAL IL TO SPI. THEN SFC LOW
POISED OVER TX PANHANDLE DEEPENING TO THE NORTHEAST ACRS MO TO IL AS
S/W SWINGS ACRS CENTRAL PLAINS ON WEDNESDAY. OVERRUNNING MSTR OVER
THIS BOUNDARY INTO COOLER AIR IN NRN IL/NWRN IN CUD RETURN CHC OF
SHOWERS FOR WED AND WED NIGHT.
CONTD NE WINDS OVER AREA THURS SHOULD KEEP COOL CONDS AROUND BUT
STARTING TO WARM BACK UP FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS SFC RIDGE PASSES TO
EAST AGAIN AND SELY WINDS RETURN.
ANOTHER UPPER TROF MOVES THRU SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...SO SOME
SHOWERS OR TSTMS NOT OUT OF QUESTION. WILL LV IN FOR NOW. UPR RIDGE
BLDG BACK IN MONDAY SO WILL GO DRY WITH TEMPS APPROACHING 90 ONCE
AGAIN.
.CHI...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR CHICAGO AREA
EXCESSIVE HEAT ADV FOR REST OF CWA
BRUMERIn the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 10:54 AM CST, 4 hours 36 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 241100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL NOON PM CDT/EST MON JUL 23 2001 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. WEAK VERTICAL WIND PROFILES AND WARMER TEMPERATURES ALOFT PRECLUDE THE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO SPROUT ALONG LINGERING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THESE ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS POSTED FOR NORTHEAST ILLINOIS WITH A HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. THE HUMID AIR MASS WILL REMAIN INTACT THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT AND ADVISORIES MAY BE CANCELLED GRADUALLY FROM THE NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT AS COOLER AND DRIER AIR REFRESHES THE REGION. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES REACHING THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 90S COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY WILL PUSH HEAT INDEX VALUES INTO THE 100 TO 105 DEGREE RANGE OVER THE AREA. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES OF A STRENUOUS NATURE SHOULD BE POSTPONED. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO AIR CONDITIONING...SEEK ACCESS TO YOUR COMMUNITY'S COOLING SHELTERS OR OTHER AIR CONDITIONED BUILDINGS. STAY OUT OF THE SUN AND TRY TO FIND A BREEZE OR SOME VENTILATION. BRUMER
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 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
- Rip Current in New York, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 23, 2001
- Flooding in Florida, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 23, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Michigan, July 23, 2001
- Flash Flood in Florida, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Colorado, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 23, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, July 23, 2001
- Flood in Florida, July 23 to 24, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 2001
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: 5258232.