Lightning, Vernon
- When
- May 7, 9:00 PM CST
- Where
- Vernon County, Nevada
- Property damage
- $18,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 37.851, -94.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Missouri, May 7, 2002
A house fire resulted from a lightning strike that shorted out a hot tub in a home's basement.
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
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $18,000
- 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.
A house fire resulted from a lightning strike that shorted out a hot tub in a home's basement.
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 May 7, 2:45 PM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 7, 2:45 PM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED TO INCLUDE WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 345 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002 FORECAST CONCERNS: FLOODING POTENTIAL OVERNIGHT. CONFIGURATION OF CWA WITH HIGHEST TSRA POTENTIAL. OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM LATEST MCS OVERNIGHT HAD MOVED INTO EXTREME SOUTHWEST MISSOURI...WITH TEMPS APPROACHING 80 IN THIS AREA. ELSEWHERE RAIN COOLED AIR HAS STABILIZED THE ATMOSPHERE WITH ONLY SOME DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTS SINCE NOON. RADAR INDICATED STORM TOTAL PRECIPITATION ABOVE 1.5 INCHES IN A BROAD AREA NORTH OF INTERSTATE 44. I WILL LIKELY ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR AREAS NORTH AND EAST OF A MOUNT VERNON TO NEVADA LINE THROUGH NOON WEDNESDAY WITH THE MAIN EMPHASIS ON MODERATE FLOODING IN THESE AREAS....ESPECIALLY NEAR THE LAKE OF THE OZARKS WHERE FLOODING IS ONGOING. CONVECTION OVER CWA WILL LIKELY SHIFT NORTH AND EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON WITH THE NEXT FOCUS OUT WEST WHERE ANOTHER COMPLEX IS DEVELOPING IN OKLAHOMA AND KANSAS. WATER VAPOR SHOWING ANOTHER IN THE SERIES OF SHORT WAVES MOVING ACROSS NEW MEXICO INTO WESTERN TEXAS. THIS WILL BE THE MAIN PLAYER OVERNIGHT WITH THE INITIATION OF CONVECTION SOMEWHERE NEAR THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY TO THE SOUTH OF SGF...AND ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA WHERE MORE SUNSHINE HAS DESTABILIZED THE ATMOSPHERE. WILL LIKELY GO WITH PERSISTENCE FOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. EARLIER ZONES HAD CHANCE OF TSRA ON SUNDAY NIGHT ONLY. DUE TO SURROUNDING OFFICES AND HPC DISCUSSION...WILL LIKELY UP THE TIME TO SATURDAY AFTN AND DROP CHANCE MONDAY AFTERNOON. NO OTHER CHANGES EXPECTED WITH MINOR TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD. .SGF... MO...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL NOON CDT WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES MOZ055>058... MOZ066>071...MOZ077>083...MOZ089>092...MOZ096>098...MOZ106. KS...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL NOON CDT WEDNESDAY FOR ZONE KSZ073. JLT
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 7, 6:44 PM CST, 2 hours 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
744 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0743 PM MT VERNON MO 1 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 LAWRENCE REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.Local storm report, May 7, 7:06 PM CST, 1 hour 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
806 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0805 PM REPUBLIC MO 60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/07/02 GREENE REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.Local storm report, May 7, 7:13 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
813 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0805 PM BATTLEFIELD MO .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 GREENE REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.Special weather statement, May 7, 7:49 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-080700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 849 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 251...IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN MISSOURI: BARRY...BARTON...BENTON...CAMDEN...CEDAR...CHRISTIAN...DADE... DALLAS...DENT...DOUGLAS...GREENE...HICKORY...HOWELL...JASPER... LACLEDE...LAWRENCE...MARIES...MCDONALD...MILLER...MORGAN...NEWTON... OREGON...OZARK...PHELPS...POLK...PULASKI...SHANNON...ST. CLAIR... STONE...TANEY...TEXAS...VERNON...WEBSTER AND WRIGHT. IN KANSAS: BOURBON...CHEROKEE AND CRAWFORD. SOME CITIES IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDE AVA... BOLIVAR...BRANSON...CAMDENTON...FORT LEONARD WOOD...FORT SCOTT... HOUSTON...JOPLIN...LEBANON...MONETT...MOUNT VERNON...NEOSHO... NEVADA...OSAGE BEACH...OZARK...PITTSBURG...ROLLA...SPRINGFIELD... STOCKTON AND WEST PLAINS. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACES WATCH NUMBER 248. 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. SUTTON
Local storm report, May 7, 8:42 PM CST, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
942 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0941 PM MC CUNE KS .88 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 CRAWFORD REPORTED BY PUBLIC.Local storm report, May 7, 8:53 PM CST, 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
953 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0950 PM 2 N WEST MINERAL KS .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 CHEROKEE REPORTED BY PUBLIC.The radar
The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:58 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flood in Alaska, May 7 to 11, 2002
- Flooding in Missouri, May 7 to 9, 2002
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, May 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 7 to 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Indiana, May 7, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 7, 2002
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, May 7 to 8, 2002
- High Wind in Idaho, May 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Alaska, May 7, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, May 7, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 7, 2002
More
Every storm in Missouri in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, May 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: 5299374.