Name: Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 5, 2001
Start: 2001-07-05T07:33
End: 2001-07-05T07:33
Location: Louisiana

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: $155,000
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 5, 1:20 AM CST, 6 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 1:20 AM CST, 6 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
220 AM CDT THU JUL 5 2001

MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE RIDGE IN THE WEST SHIFTING EAST WITH
TIME...PUTTING OUR AREA INTO MID/UPPER LEVEL ERLY FLOW BY SATURDAY
MORNING. AN MCS WAS ONGOING THIS MORNING IN KANSAS...AND THIS
FEATURE IS PROGGED TO MOVE/DEVELOP SEWD TOWARD THE ERN PART OF OUR
CWFA TODAY. BELIEVE THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO WOULD BE FOR THE
OVERNIGHT ACTIVITY TO PUSH AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY SWD INTO OUR AREA...
AND NEW CONVECTION FORM IN THE AFTERNOON HEAT ALONG THE BOUNDARY.
SINCE THE MODELS HAVE EXHIBITED POOR RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY...
CONFIDENCE IS LOW. WILL THEREFORE NOT GO REAL HIGH WITH POPS...
PERHAPS 30 PCT IN THE EAST AND 10 OR 20 ELSEWHERE.

MODERATE INSTABILITY IS FORECAST FOR TODAY...WITH CAPES APPROACHING
4000 J/KG AND LIS -5 TO -7. WHILE THESE INSTABILITY VALUES...
COMBINED WITH THE SURFACE BOUNDARY...MIGHT INCLINE US TOWARD
MENTIONING SEVERE IN THE EAST...A LOOK AT FORECAST SOUNDINGS REVEALED
SOME PROBLEMS. FIRST...THE INSTABILITY IS LARGLY DUE TO SURFACE BASED
TEMPS AND HIGH DEWPOINTS. 700-500 MB LAPSE RATES ARE AROUND 5
DEG/KM WITH 500 MB TEMPS ONLY -6 TO -7. WET-BULB ZERO AND FREEZING
HEIGHTS ARE ALSO QUITE HIGH...AROUND 13K FT AND 15K FT RESPECTIVELY.
FURTHER...DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS WEAK. FORECAST 0-6 KM SHEAR FROM THE
ETA ONLY GIVES 15-20 KTS. WE BELIEVE THAT THE WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS
AND WEAK SHEAR WILL MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO SUSTAIN STRONG UPDRAFTS FOR
ORGANIZED SEVERE CONVECTION...BUT SOME ISOLATED SVR REPORTS ARE
POSSIBLE.

FWC RAN A DEGREE OR TWO TOO HIGH YESTERDAY...PRETTY MUCH AS
EXPECTED. IT STILL LOOKS A BIT TOO WARM TODAY WITH ITS MAX TEMPS
GOING INTO THE UPPER 90S. BELIEVE THAT THE MAV HAS A BETTER HANDLE
ON MAXES BEING IN THE MID 90S. THE GUIDANCE SETS AGREE ON MINS
PRETTY CLOSELY.     05

PRELIMS...
SHV 95/74/95/74 1010
MLU 94/73/95/74 3110
TXK 95/74/95/74 2110
TYR 95/74/96/74 1010
LFK 94/73/94/73 2110

.SHV...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Jackson

When: July 5, 7:33 AM CST
Where: Jackson County, 2 mi NE of Jonesboro
Property damage: $155,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.302, -92.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning hit the electric meter and energized every piece of wiring in the home according to the Jonesboro Fire Chief. One piece of wire in the attic sent fire from one end of the home to the other. The home was 4 years old and totally destroyed. The owner was able to save some personal belongings by entering the rapidly burning building.

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 Louisiana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Louisiana, 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: 5256685.