Lightning, Beauregard
- When
- July 4, 3:23 PM CST
- Where
- Beauregard County, 2 mi S of Merryville
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 30.649, -93.343 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 4, 2002
Two men fishing in a boat on a creek south of Merryville moved ashore when a thunderstorm passed by. While standing under an oak tree, lightning struck and one of the men fell on his back, struck by lightning.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- 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 happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
Two men fishing in a boat on a creek south of Merryville moved ashore when a thunderstorm passed by. While standing under an oak tree, lightning struck and one of the men fell on his back, struck by lightning.
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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 8:30 AM CST, 6 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 8:30 AM CST, 6 hours 53 minutes before
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 930 AM CDT THU JUL 4 2002 CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE WILL HOLD AS DRY AIR ALOFT COVERS MUCH OF THE AREA ALONG AND WEST OF A LFT TO AEX LINE. K-INDEX WILL ONLY SUPPORT SCT ACROSS EASTERN PART OF CWA. ELSEWHERE...SHOULD BE DRY. A FEW MORE CLOUDS SHOWING UP ACROSS LCH VICINITY. WILL NEED TO UPDATE TO PARTLY CLOUDY WHERE MOSTLY SUNNY IS IN FORECAST. ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS...WINDS ARE SOUTHEAST 10 TO 15 KNOTS AND SEAS 3 TO 4 FEET ALONG AND WEST OF SABINE PASS. FROM CAMERON TO THE LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER...WINDS ARE MORE VARAIBLE AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS WITH SEAS 1 TO 2 FEET. .LCH...NONE. .PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... AEX 91/72/95/73/93 20202 BPT 92/73/93/74/94 00001 LCH 91/74/94/74/94 00001 LFT 90/74/94/75/93 20202 06 .TODAY... AN ONGOING DRY AIR INTRUSION THROUGH THE MIDTROPOSPHERE WILL KEEP SKIES MOSTLY SUNNY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. THE AFTERNOON READINGS WILL BE SEASONABLE FOR JULY. FURTHER EAST ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...SKIES WILL REMAIN PARTLY CLOUDY. AN ARKANSAS HIGH WILL BUILD SOUTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA. THIS BUILDING HIGH GENERATES A SURFACE- LAYER CONVERGENCE ZONE ALONG A FORT POLK TO HOUMA LINE. A FEW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE. .TONIGHT... THE CONVERGENCE ZONE WILL KEEP SKIES PARTLY CLOUDY INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. SEASONABLE MINIMUMS ARE EXPECTED. .LCH...NONE. .PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... AEX 90/72/95/73/93 20202 BPT 92/73/93/74/94 00001 LCH 91/74/94/74/94 00001 LFT 90/74/94/75/93 20202 TRARES
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:23 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Beauregard | 2002-07-04 | 57 | Male | Under Tree | Direct |
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
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Vermont, July 4, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 4, 2002
- Hail and Lightning Strikes in Florida, July 4, 2002
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, July 4, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 4, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, July 4, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 4, 2002
- Lightning Strikes in North Carolina, July 4, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 4, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 4, 2002
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, July 4, 2002
More
Every storm in Louisiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, July 2002
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: 5312301.