Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 7, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 7, 2001
Start: 2001-07-07T04:54
End: 2001-07-07T04:54
Location: Indiana

July 7, 2001 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck a garage at 452E and 1000N in Jackson Township at 0454 CST. The 24 foot by 24 foot garage was a total loss.

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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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $12,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.

Lightning struck a garage at 452E and 1000N in Jackson Township at 0454 CST. The 24 foot by 24 foot garage was a total loss.

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 7, 3:12 AM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 3:12 AM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
345 AM CDT FRI JUL 6 2001

TSTM CLUSTER NOW OVER NERN IL MOVING STEADILY OFF TO ESE AT ARND 40
MPH WITH NO SIGNS OF SIGNIFICANT BACKBUILDING EVIDENT ON DATLT LOOPS
OF RADAR ATTM.  WITH THIS IN MIND WILL MENTION UNQUALIFIED TSTMS
OVER CHI METRO AND ADJACENT POTIONS OF NWRN IN FOR THIS MORNING.
ELSEWHERE...WITH VERY WARM AND HUMID AIRMASS TO W FCST TO PUSH INTO
AREA TODAY WILL UP TEMPS TO NR 90 MOST AREAS.  IN ADDITION ETA FROM
YDY APPEARS TO BE NOT TOO FAR OFF WITH ITS FCST OF 70 DEG DWPTS.
THIS HELPS TO PRODUCE FCST CAPES OF 2000-3000 J/KG LATER THIS AFTN
AND WELL INTO TNGT.  WITH WK TROF/CDFNT MOW FROM LS SWWD TO NERN NE
FCST TO SAG SLOLY SWD AND INTO NRN IL TNGT...WILL KEEP CHC TSTMS
GOING AT LEAST THU TNGT.   LITTLE POTENTCY TO THIS FRONT AND TEMPS
WILL LIKELY REMAIN AOA SEASONAL NORMALS WELL INTO EXTENDED PD.  MAN
PLAYER IN TEMP VARIABILITY WILL BE FLOW OFF LM SUN/MON.

.CHI...NONE.

MERZLOCK

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 7, 4:50 AM CST, 4 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
071700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
600 AM CDT/EST SAT JUL 7 2001

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT OVER THE ENTIRE REGION.

AN INFLUX OF VERY WARM AND HUMID AIR IN ADVANCE OF A WEAK COLD FRONT
APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL SET THE STAGE FOR SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT.  INITIAL
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS MOST LIKELY TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE
AREA WHERE TEMPERATURES ALOFT ARE A LITTLE COOLER.

THE MAIN THREAT FROZM THESE STORMS WILL BE FROM DAMAGING STRAIGHT
LINE WINDS.

ON SUNDAY...THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SAG FAR ENOUGH TO THE SOUTH TO
KEEP THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA.

MERZLOCK

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:52 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Porter

When: July 7, 4:54 AM CST
Where: Porter County, 1 mi S of Burdick
Property damage: $12,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.509, -87.073 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 Indiana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, 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: 5258211.