Lightning, Walworth
- When
- August 9, 3:15 PM CST
- Where
- Walworth County, 3 mi SSW of Whitewater
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, August 9, 2002
Lightning struck a substation south-southwest of Whitewater on Clover Valley Road. It left about 8,000 customers without power for 2 to 4 hours.
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
- $20,000
- 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 MKX wrote it up.
Lightning struck a substation south-southwest of Whitewater on Clover Valley Road. It left about 8,000 customers without power for 2 to 4 hours. Due to the inter-connection of electrical lines, a substation near Palmyra (Jefferson County) also sustained damage. Consequently power outages were noted in the Hebron to Palmyra area of southeastern Jefferson County. Many businesses were forced to close early.
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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 9, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 230 PM CDT FRI AUG 9 2002 FCST FOCUS ON TEMPS SAT AND SUN...PULLING PCPN FOR SAT. QUIET NIGHT TONIGHT UNDER INFLUENCE OF RIDGE...TEMPS JUST A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN LAST NIGHT. THE QUESTION THE LAST FEW DAYS HAS BEEN PCPN CHC ON SAT. CURRENT IMPRESSIVE CLOSED UPPER LOW SPINNING OVR NW NORTH DAKOTA VCNTY BEGINS TO OPEN UP WITH TIME AND TAKES A TRACK ENE INTO CANADA. THOUGH IT IS BECOMING NEGATIVELY TILTED AS IT MOVES E...THE BEST FORCING REMAINS WELL AWAY FROM THE CWA ON SAT. AT BEST WE GET NICKED BY ITS TAIL BUT THE MAGNITUDE NEVER EXCEEDS THE ZRVL. IN ADDITION... THE H8 AND SFC BOUNDARIES BECOME WASHED OUT WITH THE H8 FLOW TURNING INCREASINGLY WESTERLY. LLV CONVERGENCE BECOMES PALTRY. THE SOUNDINGS ARE VERY DRY WITH THE ETA SHOWING A MAX CAPE AT KMSN OF UNDER 500. THERE MAY BE SOME BNDRY LEVEL INFLUENCE FROM EVAPOTRANSPIRATION...BUT THE PLANTS...ESPECIALLY CORN...IS PARCHED AROUND HERE AND NOT LIKELY GIVING OFF MUCH WATER VAPOR. DON/T SEE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CONTINUE THE PCPN CHC ON SAT. WITH MORE SUN AND DRIER DAY...WILL PUSH TEMPS CLOSER TO ETA MOS/2M TEMPS. DRY SAT NGT AND SUN. ETA 2M TEMPS IN THE SE CWA LOOK STRANGE FOR SUN...PUSHING L-M 90S...100S DOWN IN IL. WILL GO UPR 80S ON SUN. NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN COMES WITH STRONG COLD FRONT MON AFTN. DYNAMICS WITH THIS MORE FAVORABLE AND LLV/S SHOW BETTER FORCING. COOL DOWN FOR NEXT WEEK STILL LOOKS ON TARGET. .MKX...NONE. DAVIS
The radar
The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:17 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
- Tornado and Hail in South Dakota, August 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, August 9 to 10, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, August 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 9, 2002
- Wildfire in California, August 9 to 11, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Colorado, August 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 9, 2002
- Hail in Colorado, August 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 9, 2002
- Damaging Winds in North Dakota, August 9, 2002
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, August 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: 5314815.