Iowa, 2001

Lightning Strike in Iowa, September 2, 2001

September 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
$10,000
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 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 Sep 2, 2:13 AM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:13 AM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
313 AM CDT SUN SEP 2 2001

JET STREAM REMAINS NORTH OF FORECAST AREA OVER SOUTHERN CANADA
THROUGH SHORT TERM PERIOD. FRONT THROUGH FORECAST AREA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON NORTHWEST THROUGH AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT SOUTHEAST. COULD
FIND LITTLE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT IN VORTICITY AND POTENTIAL VORTICITY
FIELDS. FRONTOGENESIS ALMOST NON EXISTENT AT SURFACE...BUT 850 MB
FRONTOGENESIS LOOKS BETTER. SURFACE THETA E RIDGE AXIS AND MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE AXIS ALSO MOVE ACROSS FORECAST AREA AHEAD OF THIS FRONT.
MOISTURE LIMITED BASED ON RELATIVE HUMIDITY FIELD...BUT SIGNIFICANT
OMEGA AT 850 MB. WILL INCLUDE MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS.

WITH UPPER LEVEL BLOCKING RIDGE DEVELOPING BY 60 HOURS AND SURFACE
HIGH RIDGE AXIS JUST TO THE EAST OF FORECAST AREA AT 60 HOURS...HARD
TO JUSTIFY MENTIONING PRECIPITATION MONDAY NIGHT BASED ON THIS.
HOWEVER FRONTOGENESIS FIELD SUGGEST QUASISTATIONARY SURFACE FRONT
SETTING UP OVER IOWA...NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA...WITH
850 MB FRONT A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH OVER FORECAST AREA...ESPECIALLY
ON ETA. THETA E AXIS AND MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AXIS MENTIONED ABOVE
BECOME QUASISTATIONARY NEAR BORDER OF NEBRASKA AND KANSAS JUST SOUTH
OF FRONT. OMEGA FIELD ON AVN WITH THIS FRONT PROBABLY OVERDONE...BUT
SOME OMEGA SUPPORT INDICATED ON NGM FOR SOUTHWEST PART OF FORECAST
AREA. WIND FIELD SUGGESTS OVERRUNNING PRECIPITATION...SO WILL KEEP
MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR MONDAY NIGHT.

.FSD...NONE

BLOOM

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Clay

When
September 2, 4:30 AM CST
Where
Clay County, Peterson
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
43.083, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a radio antenna on a house. A radio and converter box were destroyed. Several other pieces of electrical equipment on or in the house were damaged including a television satellite dish and converter boxes, computer, garage door opener, water softener, central vac system, and sky lights. Lightning also struck a tree next to another house, splitting open the tree from top to bottom.

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, September 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: 5267881.