A non-severe thunderstorm produced a lightning strike that killed a high school athlete.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 PAH wrote it up.
A non-severe thunderstorm produced a lightning strike that killed a high school athlete.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 29, 1:13 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 213 PM CDT THU MAR 29 2007 .DISCUSSION... A DIFFUSE SFC FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXISTED ACROSS THE PAH FCST AREA UNDER MID LEVEL RIDGING TODAY...INDICATED BY LIGHT ERLY WINDS IN SRN IL/SWRN IND AND WINDS WITH A MORE SRLY COMPONENT AND SLIGHTLY HIGHER DEWPOINTS TO THE SW OF THERE. HOWEVER...THE EXISTING SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER SRN IL...AND EVEN SOME LIGHTNING ACTIVITY TO OUR WEST IN THE MO OZARK FOOTHILLS...SEEMS TO BE THE RESULT OF MAINLY DIURNAL INSTABILITY AND TERRAIN INFLUENCE. THIS ACTIVITY MAY HANG ON FOR A WHILE IN THE EVENING UNTIL THE BOUNDARY LAYER COOLS. THE DIFFUSE BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO MOVE BACK TO THE NE OVERNIGHT AND THE REGION WILL REMAIN UNDER A MOIST SRLY FLOW THROUGH SAT. WE COULD HAVE MORE PATCHY DENSE FOG TONIGHT WITH SOME LINGERING MOISTURE AND LIGHT WINDS DESPITE THE INCREASED SUNSHINE TODAY. MORE DIURNAL SHOWERS/TSTMS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WEAK ATMOSPHERIC FLOW ON FRI. THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MAV/MET POP GUIDANCE... AND BASED ON TODAY/S EXPERIENCE OF LIMITED COVERAGE OF SHOWERS/ TSTMS...THE TENDENCY WILL BE TO ERR ON THE LIGHT /MET/ SIDE FOR THE FRI POPS. THIS TREND WAS ALREADY INITIALIZED BY THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT. FOR SAT...A DIGGING MID LEVEL TROF WILL HAVE MADE ITS WAY INTO THE NRN PLAINS AS A CLOSED LOW. A SFC COLD FRONT WILL ACCOMPANY THIS FEATURE ON SAT AFTN/EVE...KICKING OFF SHOWER/TSTM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE FCST AREA. LIMITING FACTORS FOR SEVERITY APPEAR TO BE INSTABILITY...DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AND OVERALL MOISTURE THROUGH THE COLUMN. CONVECTION ACROSS THE SRN MS RIVER VALLEY...WHICH IS OUTLOOKED BY SPC...MAY ROB OUR AREA OF SOME OF THE MOISTURE. THE RAIN AND EVEN THE CLOUDS SHOULD CLEAR OUT RAPIDLY OVERNIGHT...MAKING SUNDAY A BREEZY BUT DRY DAY EXCEPT FOR PERHAPS A SHOWER EARLY IN THE PENNYRILE REGION OF KY. NOT MUCH COOL AIR WILL BE BEHIND THIS FRONT. THE LATEST MED RANGE MODEL RUNS SEEM TO BE IN MUCH BETTER AGREEMENT TODAY FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF THE FCST. IN THE FAST NRN STREAM FLOW...ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROF IS PROGGED TO MOVE EAST BY TUE ACROSS THE NRN TIER OF STATES AND BRING A SFC LOW AND COLD FRONT THROUGH THE PAH FCST AREA. AHEAD OF THE FRONT ON TUE AFTN...IN THE BREEZY WARM ADVECTION ZONE...SKIES SHOULD BE RELATIVELY FREE OF CLOUDS. THE INSOLATION SHOULD ASSIST IN HEATING THE LOW LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. ATTM...THE FROPA SHOULD BE TUE AFTN/EVE...PROVIDING ENOUGH LOW LEVEL FORCING FOR SOME SUBSTANTIAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...ENHANCED BY DECENT INSTABILITY AND WINDS ALOFT. ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE SYSTEM HIGH SFC PRESSURE SHOULD PROVIDE DRY AND NEAR SEASONABLE CONDITIONS THROUGH THE END OF THE FCST PERIOD. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && DB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1106 AM CDT THU MAR 29 2007 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-301615- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 1106 AM CDT THU MAR 29 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. STORMS WILL BE MOST LIKELY EACH AFTERNOON...AND ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN WELL BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST SATURDAY NIGHT...AS A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. A FEW STORMS SATURDAY NIGHT MAY BRIEFLY APPROACH SEVERE LEVELS. WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME LOCATIONS TO HAVE THUNDERSTORMS FOR 2 OR 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS...SOME ISOLATED FLOODING PROBLEMS MAY EVENTUALLY DEVELOP SATURDAY OR SATURDAY NIGHT. A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS ALSO FORECAST FOR MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. MINOR FLOODING MAY DEVELOP ALONG PORTIONS OF THE OHIO AND WABASH RIVERS EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. MY/DRS
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:02 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
An 18-year-old high school student was struck and killed by lightning at a track meet. The lightning strike occurred on the school's campus just before the start of the track meet. Witnesses stated there was little rain, thunder, or lightning prior to the fatal strike. The student was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
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, Jackson | 2007-03-29 | 18 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 2007
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: 19455.