Name: Lightning Strike in Louisiana, September 21, 2001
Start: 2001-09-21T09:30
End: 2001-09-21T09:30
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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 21, 1:41 AM CST, 7 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 21, 1:41 AM CST, 7 hours 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
230 AM CDT THU SEP 20 2001

MODELS SHOWING DIVERGING SOLUTIONS AND A LACK OF RUN TO RUN
CONSISTENCY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE ETA/NGM TRENDING DRIER ON 0Z
RUNS...WHILE THE AVN TRENDING WETTER. ETA SEEMS TO BE INITIALIZED
BETTER. BASICALLY...WILL KEEP MODERATELY HIGH POPS IN THRU PERIOD AS
VORT MAXES WILL RECUR ACROSS EAST TX. IN FACT...CONVECTION IS
CURRENTLY FIRING UP OVER CENTRAL TX...AS AIRMASS QUICKLY RECOVERING
FROM TEMPORARY STABILIZATION IN WAKE OF LARGE COVECTIVE COMPLEX
WHICH IS WEAKINING AS IT APPROACHES OUR COUNTIES IN EAST EX. TODAYS
INSTABILITY INDICATED TO BE GREATER...SO EXPECT A THUNDER TYPE OF
DAY...WHILE A STEADY INTRUSION OF MID LEVEL MOISTURE WILL TEND TO
MAKE FOR MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT BY SATURDAY. SUNDAY WILL SEE
INCREASING LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW...AND OVERALL BETTER DYNAMICS...
AS COLD FRONT ENTERS NORTHERN OK LATE SATURDAY NIGHT. AVN INDICATES
ORGANIZING SURFACE LOW OVER EAST TX...AS A SEPERATE CIRCULATION FROM
THE APPROACHING FRONT. DAYTIME TEMPS MAY NEED TO BE LOWERED A BIT ON
SATURDAY AS CLOUDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO PREVAIL. A COOL AND DRIER
REGIME SHOULD TAKE HOLD FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK AS UPPER LOW MOVING
INTO GULF OF AK SUSTAINS A RIDGE TO OUR WEST.

SHV 85/64/81/68  4364
MLU 87/65/85/70  3232
TXK 84/65/80/69  5453
TYR 83/67/80/70  6473
LFK 88/66/84/71  5564

VII

.SHV...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 21, 9:30 AM CST, 0 minutes before

ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077-TXZ096-
097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-211630-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1030 AM CDT FRI SEP 21 2001

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF THE FOUR STATE REGION. ANY
THUNDERSTORMS THAT MIGHT POSSIBLY BECOME SEVERE WOULD BE ISOLATED IN
NATURE.

ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS...SKYWARN NETWORKS...AND STORM
SPOTTERS...SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Caddo

When: September 21, 9:30 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, Shreveport
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.580, -93.882 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 52 year old man was injured when he was struck by lightning. Willie Germany felt a jolt while unloading equipment from a tractor-trailer in south Shreveport. Fire Department paramedics assessed Germany who complained of pain in the hand which he was touching the trailer at the time of the strike. He was transported to a local hospital.

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, 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: 5266480.