Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 15, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 15, 2001
Start: 2001-06-15T19:30
End: 2001-06-15T19:30
Location: North Carolina

June 15, 2001 · NWS RNK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck the C&L Manufacturing company, starting a fire that destroyed the building, equipment and inventory.

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: $400,000
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 RNK wrote it up.

Lightning struck the C&L Manufacturing company, starting a fire that destroyed the building, equipment and inventory.

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 15, 2:05 PM EST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 2:05 PM EST, 5 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
305 PM EDT FRI JUN 15 2001

PROBLEMS WITH IFPS THIS AFTN...DOING ZONES THE OLD FASHION WAY SO NO
RDF PRODUCT.

ONE MORE DAY OF ALLISON SCAPS THEN COLD FRONT SHUD SWEEP THINGS OFF
TO THE EAST DURING TMRW. THERE MAY BE SOME DELAY IN THE FRONT IF
ALLISON DOES NOT MOVE NORTH AS FAST AS MODELS CRNTLY INDICATE. BUT
WILL CONT CRNT TREND SINCE MODELS HAVE BEEN SO CONSISTENT WITH THIS
FEATURE...AND ALLISON APPEARS TO BE PICKING UP MOMENTUM.

DONT EXPECT MUCH OF THAT CRNT LINE OVER THE MIDWEST TO SURVIVE THE
TRIP INTO OUR WESTERN COUNTIES LATE TNGT AS IT RUNS INTO LIKELY AREA
OF SUBSIDENCE ON EDGE OF ALLISON AND 850 WINDS OUT AHEAD OF THE LINE
VEER. LINE MAY TRY TO GET GOING TMRW AFTN EAST OF THE MTNS...BUT
DOWNSLOPING 850 WINDS WILL HURT CHANCES OF WIDESPREAD COVRG. WILL
PROBABLY GO WITH NO MORE THAN 30-40 POPS IN THE FA TNGT AND TMRW.

THINGS GET RELATIVELY QUIET AFTER SUNDAY ALTHOUGH MIDWEST CONVECTION
MAY MAKE A RUN FOR OUR WESTERN COUNTIES LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. MRF GETS
A LTL WARMER FOR NEXT WEEK ON EACH RUN SO WILL CONT TO BUMP TEMPS UP
SLIGHTLY. WILL PROBABLY SEE WIDELY SCTD CONVEJCTION IN THE EXTNDED
BUT WILL LEAVE MENTION OUT FOR NOW.

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

JDS

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, Wilkes

When: June 15, 7:30 PM EST
Where: Wilkes County, Hays
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.206, -81.163 (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 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: 5252125.