Iowa, 2001

Lightning Strike in Iowa, August 2, 2001

August 2, 2001 · NWS FSD · 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
0
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 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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 2, 2:30 AM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 2:30 AM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
330 AM CDT THU AUG 2 2001

SHWRS/TSTMS AFFECTING FAR SERN CWA NEAR STORM LAKE ATTM...AND ALSO
APPROACHING SWRN CWA FM NEB. OBVIOUSLY THE CHANCES OF SHWRS/TSTMS
WILL HAVE TO BE COVERED FOR IN SRN CWA FOR MOST OF TDA INTO TNGT
AS TROPICAL RIDGE RIDERS INTERACT WITH LINGERING LOW LVL BOUNDARY.
THERE IS EVEN A CHANCE OF DVLPMT FURTHER N IN CWA AS TROPICAL
MOISTURE INTERACTS WITH NRN STREAM AND WITH RETURN SELY FLW THRU
850MB BY LATE AFTN INTO TNGT. ONLY PLACE THAT COULD BE PROTECTED
IS SWRN MN AND ADJ NWRN IA THRU TNGT AS LOW LVL RDG HOLDS...BUT
THESE AREAS PROBABLY ALSO HAVE THE BEST CHCS FOR NGTTIME AND EARLY
MRNG FOG. HIGH TEMPS TDA AND MAYBE FRI MAY BE TEMPERED BY CLDS AND
HUMIDITY ESP IN SRN CWA. BEST CHC MIXING TO LWR TO MID 90S WL BE
NWRN CWA NR HON...MHE...AND CHB FRI...OTRW MID TO UPR 80S MAY BE
THE BRULE.

.FSD...NONE
RYRHOLM

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Buena Vista

When
August 2, 8:00 AM CST
Where
Buena Vista County, Storm Lake
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.736, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck three large trees.

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 Iowa in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, August 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: 5265272.