Lightning Strike in Minnesota, June 26, 2002

Name: Lightning Strike in Minnesota, June 26, 2002
Start: 2002-06-26T04:30
End: 2002-06-26T04:30
Location: Minnesota

June 26, 2002 · NWS DLH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning started a fire at an auto body shop, which destroyed the business.

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: $500,000
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 DLH wrote it up.

Lightning started a fire at an auto body shop, which destroyed the business.

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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 26, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 26, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
230 AM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

FIRST PERIOD CLOUDINESS WILL BE THE ONLY CONCERN IN THE FORECAST.
ONLY MINOR FORECAST CHANGES WILL BE MADE.

21 CYCLE VORT AND ASSOCIATED LOBE ROTATING THROUGH REMAINDER OF CWA
THIS EARLY MORNING. BAROTROPIC TYPE TROUGHING OVER THE WESTERN
GREAT LAKES WILL CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD TODAY. SUBSIDENCE BEHIND
THE MAIN 500MB VORT WILL CAUSE SOME HEATING AND DRYING DOWN TO 750MB
THIS MORNING. THIS WILL PROHIBIT MID AND UPPER LEVEL CLOUSINESS
TODAY. THE MAIN PROBLEM WILL BE BENEATH THIS LAYER. ENOUGH MOISTURE
TRAPPED UNDER THIS INVERSION SHOULD WRAP AROUND BEHIND THE LOW CENTER
TO KEEP MOST OF THE NORTHERN CWA MOSTLY CLOUDY THIS MORNING AND THE
REMAINDER PARTLY CLOUDY AT LEAST. THIS WILL ALSO MOVE EAST AS THE
LOW CARRIES THE MOISTURE AWAY AND EVEN THE LOWEST LEVELS ARE
CLEARED AS SUB INVERSION ADVECTS TOWARD THE BL.

ETA IS SHOWING SOME BKN DECK AT 4-5K BY THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. FOR NOW WILL NOT FOLLOW THIS SCENARIO SINCE THE LOW
PRODUCING THE CLOUDS WILL BE MOVING EAST AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.

OTHER THAN THAT...SEVERAL WARM PARTLY CLOUDY DAYS IN STORE.
DEW POINTS ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO BE SEVERAL DEGREES COOLER
TODAY AND TEMPS AROUND THE SAME AS YESTERDAY FOR MANY
LOCATIONS. THIS WILL PROVIDE ONLY SLIGHTLY DRYER CONDITIONS TODAY.
LOWEST RH VALUES WILL STILL RUN IN THE 50S AGAIN TODAY...SO IT
WILL STILL FEEL A BIT MUGGY.

.DLH...NONE.

T.ERICKSON

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 25, 10:39 PM CST, 5 hours 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
1139 PM CDT TUE JUN 25 2002

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

0454 PM    BIG FALLS                 MN   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   KOOCHICHING

0607 PM    1SW HINCKLEY              MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0620 PM    1SW HINCKLEY              MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0656 PM    BEROUN                    MN   0.88 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0700 PM    5E BEROUN                 MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0751 PM    HERTEL                    WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   BURNETT

0803 PM    15E HAYWARD               WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   SAWYER                         NUMEROUS TREES DOWN   AT
                                          GHOST LAKE BOAT  LANDING.
                                          BOAT TRAILERS AND CARS
                                          DAMAGED BY FALLING TREES.

0805 PM    1E HAYWARD                WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   SAWYER

0810 PM    SHELL LAKE                WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   WASHBURN

0834 PM    GILE                      WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   IRON                           A TREE DOWNAND A POWER
                                          LINE DOWN.

0838 PM    5SE SARONA                WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   WASHBURN                       A FEW TREES DOWN.

0905 PM    EXELAND                   WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   SAWYER                         NUMEROUS TREES AND
                                          POWERLINES DOWN. WINDS
                                          ESTIMATED AT 60 TO 70
                                          MPH

Local storm report, Jun 25, 10:45 PM CST, 5 hours 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
1145 PM CDT TUE JUN 25 2002

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

0454 PM    BIG FALLS                 MN   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   KOOCHICHING

0607 PM    1 SW HINCKLEY             MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0620 PM    1 SW HINCKLEY             MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0656 PM    BEROUN                    MN   0.88 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0700 PM    5 E BEROUN                MN   1.00 IN HAIL
06/25/02   PINE

0751 PM    HERTEL                    WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   BURNETT

0803 PM    20 E HAYWARD              WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   SAWYER                         NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AT
                                          GHOST LAKE BOAT LANDING.
                                          BOAT TRAILERS AND CARS
                                          DAMAGED BY FALLING TREES.

0805 PM    1 E HAYWARD               WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   SAWYER

0810 PM    SHELL LAKE                WI   0.75 IN HAIL
06/25/02   WASHBURN

0834 PM    GILE                      WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   IRON                           A TREE DOWNAND A POWER
                                          LINE DOWN.

0838 PM    5 SE SARONA               WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   WASHBURN                       A FEW TREES DOWN.

0905 PM    EXELAND                   WI   WIND DAMAGE
06/25/02   SAWYER                         NUMEROUS TREES AND
                                          POWERLINES DOWN. WINDS
                                          ESTIMATED AT 60 TO 70
                                          MPH

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, Carlton

When: June 26, 4:30 AM CST
Where: Carlton County, Cloquet
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 46.592, -92.677 (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 Minnesota in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, June 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: 5306298.