Name: Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 8, 2001
Start: 2001-07-08T17:35
End: 2001-07-08T17:35
Location: Indiana

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $8,000
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 IND wrote it up.

Lightning struck a house causing minor damage.

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 Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 8, 2:20 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:20 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
220 PM EST SUN JUL 8 2001

AREA WL CONT TO BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NWLY UPPR FLOW FOR THE NEXT
FEW DAYS AS MINOR IMPULSES MOV THRU THE FLOW. WL FRONTAL SYS
CURRENTLY OVR THE NERN CWA IS XPCTD TO SAG SWD TO NR THE SRN CWA
BORDER BY MON AFT. FCST FOCUS CENTERS MAINLY ON PCPN THREAT.

CURRENT RADAR SHOWS SOME LINGERING LT RAIN OVR THE SERN CWA IN THE
WAKE OF MCS...WHILE A FEW STORMS ARE DVLPG OVR THE NERN CWA S OF
KMIE. ANOTHER TSTM COMPLEX BEGINNING TO ACCELERATE SEWD ACRS NWRN IL.
BEST INSTABILITY AXIS CURRENTLY LIES FM WC IL TO NR KCVG WHERE LI/S
ARE ABOUT -9. THINK COMPLEX IN NW IL WL BEGIN TO MAKE THE TURN SE
WITH TIME AS IT BLDS INTO BETTER INSTABILITY. MODEST LO LVL JET...ON
THE ORDER OF 20-25 KTS...WL BE POINTED TOWARDS THE SWRN CWA TONIGHT.
BASED ON ABV...WL BE GOING WITH LIKELY POPS OVR THE SWRN THIRD OF CWA
TONIGHT...AND CHC POPS FURTHER NE. DUE TO THE HI INSTABILITY WL
MENTION SVR IN THE LIKELY POPS AREAS. WL ALSO MENTION HEAVY RAIN IN
THOSE ZONES...ALTHOUGH WL HOLD OFF ON A FLASH FLOOD WATCH AS LO LVL
JET DOESN/T LOOK ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE TONIGHT. APPEARS NEW WW WIBIS
SHORTLY TO REPLACE WS 525. WL SENT ZONES EARLY TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS.

WL CONT WITH CHC POPS OVR THE SW THIRD ON MON AS INSTABILITY AHEAD OF
FNT REMAINS QUITE HI WITH LI/S DOWN TO ABOUT -9. WL ALSO PUT IN SOME
POPS FOR MON EVEN OVR THE FAR SW ZONES AS FNT WL STILL BE IN THE
AREA. AS IT LOOKS NOW...FNT SHOULD BE FAR ENOUGH S OF CWA BY TUES TO
KEEP POPS OUT AT THAT TIME.

NGM MOS TEMPS MAY BE A LTL TOO WARM IN THE LTR PDS...BUT OVERALL
NUMBERS LOOK REASONABLE.

.IND...NONE.
JAS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 8, 5:16 PM EST, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
516 PM EST SUN JUL 08 2001

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0500 PM    FRANKFORT                 IN   WIND DAMAGE
07/08/01   CLINTON                        TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN FROM FRANKFORT TO
                                          MULLBERRY. ALSO,
                                          WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT
                                          OF THE SECOND FLOOR OF
                                          A BUILDING IN FRANKFORT
                                          AT COURTHOUSE SQUARE.
                                          EVENT DURATION 5
                                          MINUTES. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Jul 8, 5:21 PM EST, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
521 PM EST SUN JUL 08 2001

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0450 PM    COUNTYWIDE                IN   WIND DAMAGE
07/08/01   CLINTON                        TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN ACROSS MANY
                                          LOCATIONS ACROSS THE
                                          COUNTY. EVENT DURATION
                                          25 MINUTES. REPORTED BY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Local storm report, Jul 8, 5:26 PM EST, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
526 PM EST SUN JUL 08 2001

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0515 PM    PITTSBORO                 IN   58 MPH TSTM GUST
07/08/01   HENDRICKS                      REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY
                                          NWS EMPLOYEE.

Special weather statement, Jul 8, 5:33 PM EST, 2 minutes before

INZ021-028>030-035-036-043-044-082330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
533 PM EST SUN JUL 8 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM
ROCKVILLE TO FRANKORT TO DELPHI...

A SEVERE SQUALL LINE HAS MOVED SOUTHEAST OF ROCKVILLE...
FRANKFORT AND DELPHI. SEVERE WEATHER IS NO LONGER LIKELY NORTHWEST OF
THIS LINE. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS ARE LIKELY
THROUGH THE EVENING. THE WATCH WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 9 PM EST SOUTHEAST
OF THIS LINE.

STAY TUNED FOR THE ISSUANCE OF WARNINGS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT.

KOCH

Local storm report, Jul 8, 5:34 PM EST, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
534 PM EST SUN JUL 08 2001

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0528 PM    2 N BROWNSBURG            IN   68 MPH TSTM GUST
07/08/01   HENDRICKS                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

Local storm report, Jul 8, 5:35 PM EST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
535 PM EST SUN JUL 08 2001

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0532 PM    (IND)INDNPLS INTL ARPT    IN    60 MPH TSTM GUST
07/08/01   MARION                         REPORTED BY NWS
                                          EQUIPMENT.

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:36 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Marion

When: July 8, 5:35 PM EST
Where: Marion County, Southport
Property damage: $8,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.782, -86.138 (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

More

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: 5263905.