Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 14, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 14, 2001
Start: 2001-06-14T17:00
End: 2001-06-14T17:45
Location: North Carolina

June 14, 2001 · NWS RNK · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck two houses during the late afternoon of the 14th starting fires. Heavy thunderstorm rains flooded a small part of Boone, requiring several rescues.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $125,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 RNK wrote it up.

Thunderstorms during the evening produced damaging lightning and flash flooding.Lightning struck two houses during the late afternoon of the 14th starting fires. One house was completely destroyed while the second house suffered considerable damage.Heavy thunderstorm rains flooded a small part of Boone, requiring several rescues.

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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 14, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 14, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
300 PM EDT THU JUN 14 2001

NOTHING MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE YDAY. MEANDERING REMNANTS OF ALLISON
SHOULD CONT ON THEIR NORTHWARD WOBBLE NEXT DAY OR SO...WITH HIGH
PWATS AND EAST-NELY FLOW ACROSS THE REGION. POPS WILL REMAIN IN THE
HIGH CHC CATEGORY ACROSS MOST OF THE FA THRU SATURDAY. WILL HOWEVER
GO LIKELY IN THE EAST TMRW SINCE THE CIRCULATION MOVES A LTL CLOSER.

FCSTID = 9
ROA   68  83  67  84 /  40  60  40  40
LYH   67  83  66  84 /  40  60  40  50
DAN   70  85  70  86 /  50  60  40  50
BLF   63  81  60  79 /  30  40  40  40
LWB   61  81  58  79 /  30  40  40  40
BCB   63  82  61  79 /  40  40  40  40
TNB   62  82  59  79 /  40  40  40  40

.RNK...
NC...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Watauga

When: June 14, 5:00 PM EST to 5:15 PM EST
Where: Watauga County, Boone
Property damage: $125,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.231, -81.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Watauga

When: June 14, 5:00 PM EST to 5:45 PM EST
Where: Watauga County, Boone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.231, -81.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, 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: 5252127, 5252128.