A series of severe thunderstorms moved through central Indiana on the evening of 18 July 2006. One young boy was killed by a lightning strike in Marion County.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS IND wrote it up.
A series of severe thunderstorms moved through central Indiana on the evening of 18 July 2006. One young boy was killed by a lightning strike in Marion County. Lightning also sparked several fires in Johnson County.
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 Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 1:20 PM EST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 220 PM EDT TUE JUL 18 2006 .DISCUSSION... FORECAST FOCUS IS ON TSRA CHANCES TONIGHT AND ON THURSDAY/FRIDAY...AND THEN ON TEMPS ON THURSDAY. AT 18Z WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDED ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA BACK INTO CENTRAL IL. DRIER AIR WAS WELL BEHIND THE FRONT. SCT TSRA HAD DEVELOPED ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN FORECAST AREA /FA/. GFS SUFFERS FROM USUAL FEEDBACK ISSUES AT TIMES THIS FORECAST CYCLE...MOST NOTABLY THU NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. OTHERWISE MODELS HAVE SIMILAR IDEAS AND WILL USE A BLEND. FRONT WILL SINK SOUTH TONIGHT AS IT WASHES OUT. UPPER SUPPORT IS WEAK...AS IS SURFACE CONVERGENCE. THUS FEEL CHANCES FOR CONVECTION ARE SMALL AT BEST...AND WILL CONTINUE DRY FORECAST AFTER 00Z. WITH DRIER AIR LAGGING WELL BEHIND FRONT...BELIEVE DRIER AIR WILL NOT MAKE IT AS FAR SOUTH AS MAV LOW TEMPERATURES WOULD SUGGEST. THUS WILL GO CLOSER TO WARMER MET NUMBERS ACROSS THE NORTHERN FA. ELSEWHERE WILL BLEND THE COOLER MAV AND WARM MET NUMBERS. ON WEDNESDAY UPPER RIDGE BUILDS BACK INTO INDIANA. CU RULE SHOWS SOME SCATTERED TO BROKEN CONDITIONS...BUT FEEL STILL ENOUGH SUN TO PUSH TEMPERATURES TO MAV NUMBERS IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 90S. MCS WILL DEVELOP WELL TO THE NW OF INDIANA WED NIGHT IN STRONG WARM ADVECTION. THIS SHOULD STAY TO THE N OF THE FA BUT CLOUDS WILL SPILL OVER FOR THE DAY ON THURSDAY. THESE CLOUDS WILL HELP KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM REACHING THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. NEVERTHELESS...READINGS WILL STILL PEAK IN THE LOW TO MID 90S AGAIN AS 850 TEMPERATURES RISE TO NEAR 22-24C. COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND COULD SPARK SOME STORMS. BEST CHANCE FOR STORMS LOOK TO BE AS THE FRONT SLOWLY MOVES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT ALONG WITH AN UPPER WAVE. FRONT LOOKS TO LINGER INTO FRIDAY SO HAVE ADDED POPS...MAINLY DURING THE MORNING. AS STATED EARLIER DON/T TRUST GFS SOLUTION INTO SATURDAY. 00Z ECMWF KEEPS FRONT FARTHER SOUTH AS WELL. WILL THUS KEEP DRY FORECAST FOR THE MOMENT. && .AVIATION... DISCUSSION FOR THE 18Z TAFS. WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM JUST SOUTH OF KFWA TO KPIA LINE WILL MOVE TO NEAR KLAF BY 21Z AND TO THE OHIO BY MIDNIGHT. BROKEN CLOUDS AROUND 4 THOUSANT FEET MAY MOVE INTO KLAF AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. BUT THESE CLOUDS WILL PROBABLY THIN OUT AS THEY MOVE FARTER SOUTH LATE TODAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA AHEAD OF THIS FRONT. HOWEVER WITH RIDGING ALOFT THEY SHOULD DIE OUT QUICKLY THIS EVENING. SINCE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SO ISOLATED WILL ONLY MENTION CB IN TAFS AND WILL LEAVE OUT MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR NOW. MODELS KEEP SOME RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TNGT AS WEAK FRONT DISSIPATES LATE TONIGHT. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT AND SOME MVFR VSBYS ARE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT AND VERY EARLY WEDNESDAY. HOWEVER VSBYS SHOULD NOT BE AS LOW AS LAST FEW NIGHTS AS DEWPOINTS WILL BE A FEW DEGREES LOWER. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && PUBLIC...CS AVIATION...JEH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 324 PM EDT TUE JUL 18 2006 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-191930- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY- BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-VERMILLION-PARKE- PUTNAM-HENDRICKS-MARION-HANCOCK-HENRY-VIGO-CLAY-OWEN-MORGAN- JOHNSON-SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN-GREENE-MONROE-BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW- DECATUR-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS- 224 PM CDT TUE JUL 18 2006 /324 PM EDT TUE JUL 18 2006/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNSET. A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 100 ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS ON THURSDAY. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO THURSDAY WITH AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES AROUND 100 DEGREES POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE FOR SPOTTER ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTERS MAY ALSO BE NEEDED ON THURSDAY. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE)
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:15 UTC.
13 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two boys, aged 9 and 11, were struck by lightning while standing under a tree and playing in the rain. The 9-year-old died a short time later at Wishard Hospital. The 11-year-old was injured, but survived.
No property damage reported.
A tree was downed.
An aluminum awning was blown over.
The roof of a minibarn was blown off.
A small fire sparked by a lightning strike damaged a home's bathroom.
A home's water heater caught fire due to a power surge caused by lightning.
Trees, power lines, and at least one stoplight were downed by thunderstorm winds. One tree fell into power lines. These lines started a fire which damaged a residence.
Trees, power lines, and at least one power pole were damaged.
Power lines were downed.
A tree fell into the roadway.
Power lines were downed.
Power lines were downed.
A tree fell into the roadway.
Several trees were downed.
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, Marion | 2006-07-18 | 9 | Male | Under Tree | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, July 2006
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5517362, 5517440, 5517441, 5517442, 5517443, 5517444, 5517445, 5517446, 5517447, 5517448, 5517449, 5517450, 5517458, 5517459, 5517460, 5517451, 5517461, 5517462, 5517463, 5517452, 5517453, 5517454, 5517464, 5517465, 5517455, 5517456, 5517457.