Lightning Strike in Missouri, June 1, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Missouri, June 1, 2001
Start: 2001-06-01T22:00
End: 2001-06-01T22:00
Location: Missouri

June 1, 2001 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck the St. Clair County courthouse which damaged the phone system, elevator, and a few computers.

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: $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 happened

The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.

Lightning struck the St. Clair County courthouse which damaged the phone system, elevator, and a few computers.

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 1, 1:47 PM CST, 8 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 1:47 PM CST, 8 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
245 PM CDT FRI JUNE 1 2001

MAIN FOCUS HAS BEEN ON TIMING AND STRENGTH OF STORMS AHEAD OF COLD
FRONT TONIGHT.

CUMULUS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE AREA OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS
AS WE WARMED RAPIDLY INTO THE 70S FROM EARLY MORNING TEMPS NEAR 50.
STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE ALREADY FIRING UP AHEAD OF THE FRONT
THAT EXTENDS FROM NORTH OF DES MOINES TO GOODLAND KANSAS. DEWPOINT
TEMPS ARE INCREASING OVER WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST
AREA...BUT 60+ DEWPOINTS REMAIN OFF TO THE WEST. LATEST LAPS DATA
SHOWS LIS BELOW ZERO WEST OF AN OSAGE BEACH TO SPRINGFIELD
LINE...WITH CAPES FROM 100 TO 600 J/KG. ALTHOUGH INSTABILITY IS NOT
FORECAST TO BE TOO IMPRESSIVE BY THE TIME THE STORMS GET HERE (AFTER
03Z) AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND STRONG VORT MAX APPROACHING THE
AREA CONTINUE TO FAVOR LIKELY POPS FOR TONIGHT. 100 KT JET
ACCOMPANYING STORMS WILL ENHANCE DOWNBURST POTENTIAL...ESPECIALLY
OVER NORTHERN AND WESTERN ZONES WHERE BEST DYNAMICS/INSTABILITY WILL
BE LOCATED.

LATEST RUC80 HAS A GOOD HANDLE ON PRECIP FIELD THIS AFTERNOON...WITH
MESOETA NOT PICKING UP ON PRE-FRONTAL PRECIP WELL. REST OF THE
MODELS SEEM TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON FRONT LOCATION AND MOVEMENT. IT
STILL LOOKS LIKE PRECIP WILL REMAIN IN A RATHER NARROW BAND AS FRONT
MOVES QUICKLY THROUGH THE AREA BY 12Z SATURDAY. THEREAFTER...ANOTHER
QUICK RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE REGION...DRYING US OUT TEMPORARILY.

LOOKS LIKE OVERRUNNING PATTERN SETS UP SATURDAY NIGHT OVER THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS...WITH STRONG 850 THETA E ADVECTION SETTING UP OVER
OUR SOUTHWEST ZONES AFTER 06Z. THEREFORE WILL ADD POPS FOR LATE
SATURDAY TO THE SOUTHWEST.

WEATHER PATTERN FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK LOOKS INCREASINGLY WET...AS
FRONT STALLS TO OUR SOUTH AND EVENTUALLY RETURNS NORTHWARD AS A WARM
FRONT SUNDAY/MONDAY. FRONT MAY THEN REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH
TUESDAY AS SURFACE WAVE DEVELOPS OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE...AND
PROPAGATES EASTWARD ALONG THE BOUNDARY. THIS PATTERN TYPICALLY
BRINGS FLOODING TO OUR AREA...AND FEAR THAT MODEL QPF MAY BE
UNDERDONE.

WENT CLOSE TO MAV NUMBERS...

PRELIMINARY FCST:
FCSTID = 17/TERRY
SGF   56  74  54  75 / 60  10  10  40
JLN   57  75  57  74 / 60  10  30  50
UNO   54  74  54  73 / 60  20  10  40
VIH   53  73  53  75 / 60  20  10  30

.SGF...
MO...NONE.
KS...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 1, 5:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>070-077>081-088-089-020500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
630 PM CDT FRI JUN 1 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 352...IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN MISSOURI:

BARTON...BENTON...CAMDEN...CEDAR...DADE...DALLAS...HICKORY...
JASPER...LACLEDE...MARIES...MILLER...MORGAN...POLK...PULASKI...ST.
CLAIR AND VERNON.

IN KANSAS:

BOURBON...CHEROKEE AND CRAWFORD.

SOME CITIES IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDE BOLIVAR...
CAMDENTON...FORT LEONARD WOOD...FORT SCOTT...JOPLIN...LEBANON...
NEVADA...OSAGE BEACH...PITTSBURG AND STOCKTON.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WEATHER...INCLUDING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
WHILE SEVERE WEATHER MAY NOT BE IMMINENT...PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN
ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND LISTEN FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL MEDIA OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Local storm report, Jun 1, 7:29 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
829 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 2001

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

0805 PM    VERSAILLES                MO   WIND DAMAGE
06/01/01   MORGAN                         TREES AND POWERLINES
                                          DOWN. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0826 PM    5 N SUNRISE BEACH         MO   1 INCH HAIL
06/01/01   MORGAN                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Jun 1, 8:48 PM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
948 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 2001

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

0830 PM    SUNRISE BEACH             MO   WIND DAMAGE
06/01/01   CAMDEN                         POWERLINES DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0855 PM    MONTREAL                  MO   WIND DAMAGE
06/01/01   CAMDEN                         TREE DOWN ACROSS
                                          HIGHWAY 7. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.8

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, St. Clair

When: June 1, 10:00 PM CST
Where: St. Clair County, Osceola
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.037, -93.776 (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

Every storm in Missouri in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, June 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: 5250954.