As thunderstorms rolled across southeast Minnesota during the early morning hours of July 24th, a lightning strike caused damage at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds in Rochester (Olmsted County). Five security cameras were shorted out by the lightning strike.
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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 ARX wrote it up.
As thunderstorms rolled across southeast Minnesota during the early morning hours of July 24th, a lightning strike caused damage at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds in Rochester (Olmsted County). Five security cameras were shorted out by the lightning strike.
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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 23, 10:35 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 1135 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT 321 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS THIS PACKAGE...SHRA/TSRA CHANCES...HEAVY RAIN THREAT...POSSIBLE SEVERE THROUGH THE PERIOD. DATA ANALYSIS AT 18Z HAD A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY DRAPED ACROSS THE REGION FROM SOUTHEAST WI TO SOUTHERN MN. DEW POINTS NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY IN WI AND CENTRAL MN HAVE DROPPED INTO THE LOW/MID 60S. ALSO DRIER AIR OVER CENTRAL/SOUTHERN IA WHERE DEEPER MIXING HAS OCCURRED. LAPS ANALYSIS HAD THE SFC CAPE AXIS ALONG/SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY WHERE DEW POINTS REMAINED IN THE UPPER 60S/LOW 70S... CAPE BEING HELD DOWN IN THE MOISTURE AXIS BY BAND OF MID CLOUDS MOVING EAST WITH WEAK SHORTWAVES IN THE FLOW. FEW -SHRA CONTINUE TO FALL FROM THE MID CLOUD DECK OVER SOUTH QUARTER OF MN...AIDED BY A WEAK SHORTWAVE RIPPLING ACROSS SOUTHERN MN. 23.12Z MODELS LOOK TO HAVE INITIALIZED QUITE WELL...BUT FOR GFS SOME 5-10F TOO HIGH WITH SFC DEW POINTS OVER MUCH OF THE DROUGHT STRICKEN CORN BELT. SOLUTIONS REASONABLY SIMILAR FOR TONIGHT INTO THU NIGHT...AT LEAST WITH THE LARGER SCALE FEATURES BUT DIFFER ON THE SMALLER/MESO-SCALE CONVECTIVE DETAILS THRU MOST OF THE PERIOD. THE MODEL DETAIL DIFFERENCES BY TONIGHT ACT NEGATIVELY ON FCST CONFIDENCE IN THE SHORT-TERM. DPROG/DT OF 500MB HGTS AT 23.12Z SHOWED MODEL RUNS OF 21.12Z AND 22.12Z VERIFIED VERY WELL ACROSS NOAM/EASTERN PAC AND TRENDED TOWARD A TIGHTER CONSENSUS OF THE EARLIER RUNS ON ALL FEATURES. MODELS TREND TOWARD A TIGHTER CONSENSUS TONIGHT THRU WED AS THE MID CONUS RIDGE FLATTENS AND A GOOD PORTION OF THE WEST COAST TROUGH MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS TO SOUTH CENTRAL CAN BY LATE WED. SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES BEGIN TO APPEAR WED NIGHT THRU THU NIGHT AS RATHER STRONG MID LEVEL TROUGHING DROPS SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION...BUT BETTER CONSENSUS THAN EARLIER RUNS. ECMWF WITH THE BETTER RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY THRU THE PERIOD. CHECK OF OBS VS. MODEL DATA AT 18Z SHOWED MODELS REASONABLE WITH THE SFC MASS FIELDS...BUT FOR GFS STILL SOME 5-10F TOO HIGH WITH SFC DEW POINTS OVER MUCH OF IA/IL/IN/SOUTHERN WI. PER WV IMAGERY ECMWF OR AN ECMWF/NAM BLEND LOOKED BEST WITH THE SHORTWAVE DETAILS OVER THE NORTH-CENTRAL CONUS. WITH ECMWF OFFERING THE BETTER RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY AND ONE OF THE BETTER WITH THE NEAR TERM SHORTWAVE DETAILS...FAVORED A MODEL/ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS WEIGHTED TOWARD THE ECMWF. HOWEVER...GIVEN THE DETAIL DIFFERENCES AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE SENSIBLE WEATHER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...SHORT-TERM FCST CONFIDENCE AVERAGE THIS CYCLE. FOR THE SHORT-TERM...WITH AN INCREASE OF CLOUDS OVER CENTRAL WI FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND DEW POINTS HAVING FALLEN INTO THE LOWER 60S...WILL CANCEL THE HEAT ADVISORY FOR ADAMS/JUNEAU COUNTIES WITH THE AFTERNOON FCST PACKAGE ISSUANCE. GIVEN THE CLOUDS LIMITING DIURNAL WARMING/MIXING TODAY AND LACK OF STRONG FORCING... SEVERE RISK THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING LOOKS LOW. SEE SWODY1 FOR MORE DETAILS...BUT APPEARS RISK MAY BE MORE SOUTHEAST OF THE FCST AREA THIS EVENING AND WEST OF THE FCST AREA DURING THE LATE EVENING/ OVERNIGHT HOURS. CONVECTION TONIGHT...DRIVEN BY 925-700MB MOISTURE TRANSPORT AND ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL PUSH THE BOUNDARY INTO CENTRAL IA/IL BY TUE MORNING. BOUNDARY WILL STRENGTHEN AS A WARM FRONT TUE INTO WED... LIFTING NORTH AND REMAINING A FOCUS FOR SHRA/TSRA DEVELOPMENT. QUESTION TONIGHT IS AT WHAT LEVEL WILL THE MOISTURE TRANSPORT/LIFT GENERATE CONVECTION. LOWER...925-850MB...WILL MEAN MOST OF THE SHRA/TSRA TONIGHT WOULD BE OVER THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF THE FCST AREA. HIGHER...850-700MB...WOULD PLACE CONVECTION MORE SQUARELY NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE FCST AREA. CAPE AVAILABLE AT BOTH 850MB AND 700MB LEVELS TONIGHT. LEANING ON THE ECMWF...CARRIED/RAISED RAIN CHANCES TO 60-70 PERCENT OVER ALL BUT THE FAR NORTH END OF THE FCST AREA BY THE LATE NIGHT HOURS TONIGHT. RAISED SHRA/TSRA CHANCES INTO THE 50-70 PERCENT RANGE FOR EARLY TUE MORNING AS OVERNIGHT FORCING SLOWLY WANES AND SOME CONVECTION LINGERS INTO AT LEAST MID MORNING. BRIEF BREAK IN THE MOISTURE TRANSPORT/FORCING/LIFT AROUND MID-DAY TUE BUT BY LATER IN THE AFTERNOON ALL MODELS BEGIN TO INCREASE THE 850-700MB MOISTURE TRANSPORT NORTH/NORTHEAST OVER THE WARM FRONT. LINGERED A 30-ISH SHRA/TSRA CHANCE TUE AFTERNOON. MOISTURE TRANSPORT/THETA-E CONVERGENCE INCREASE FOR TUE NIGHT WITH MODEL CONSENSUS FOCUSING THE BEST CONVERGENCE OVER THE NORTH PORTIONS OF THE FCST AREA. APPEARS ANOTHER BAND OF ELEVATED SHRA/TSRA WILL DEVELOP/LIFT NORTH ACROSS THE FCST AREA LATE TUE NIGHT/WED MORNING. CONTINUED HIGHEST RAIN CHANCES OVER THE CENTRAL/NORTHEAST PARTS OF THE FCST AREA TUE NIGHT/WED MORNING. ANOTHER BREAK MID-DAY WED AS THE WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH AND THE FCST AREA ENDS UP IN THE WARM SECTOR AHEAD OF THE LOW LIFTING OUT OF NEB/SD. SHEAR/CAPE INCREASE FOR WED AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH A SFC LOW/TRIPLE POINT AND THE TRAILING COLD FRONT TO MOVE ACROSS THE FCST AREA. DEPENDING ON TIMING/LOCATION OF THE LOW /AGAIN DETAIL DIFFERENCES/ SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS PER SWODY3 QUITE REASONABLE WED AFTERNOON/EVENING. RAISED SHRA/TSRA CHANCES A BIT BOTH WED AFTERNOON/EVENING TO ACCOUNT FOR IMPROVING CONSISTENCY WITH THE PASSING LOW AND FRONT. BY THU/THU NIGHT THE STRONGER MID LEVEL TROUGH AND A SECONDARY LOW DROP SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE FCST AREA. WITH FALLING HGTS...A STRONGER SHOT OF PV ADVECTION...AN INCREASE OF MOISTURE AND MDT TO STEEP LOW/MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES...30-50 PERCENT SHRA/TSRA CHANCES FOR THU AFTERNOON INTO THU NIGHT /HIGHEST OVER THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE FCST AREA/ REASONABLE. CONVECTION TONIGHT THRU WED NIGHT WILL BE CAPABLE OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS. WITH FOCUS/HIGHEST CHANCES OF HEAVY RAIN LOOKING TO MOVE AROUND THE FCST AREA AND THE DRY/DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN PROGRESS... THREAT OF HYDROLOGY RELATED ISSUES LOOKS SMALL AT THIS TIME. GENERALLY FAVORED A BLEND OF THE NUMERICAL TEMP GUIDANCE FOR LOWS/ HIGHS GIVEN IMPACTS OF CLOUD/SHRA/TSRA...OR NOT...ON THE TEMPERATURES. HIGHS IN THE FCST GRIDS ANY ONE DAY COULD BE 5F OR MORE TOO WARM IF CLOUDS/SHRA/TSRA PREVAIL THRU THE DAY. DID RAISE HIGHS ON WED WITH THE AREA IN THE WARM SECTOR WED AFTERNOON AND SOME SUNSHINE EXPECTED. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY 321 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 MEDIUM RANGE MODEL RUNS OF 23.00Z IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH EACH OTHER AND THEIR PREVIOUS RUNS AS THE 500MB TROUGH AXIS MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION. CONSISTENCY REMAINS GOOD SAT AS HGTS RISE OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST. SOLUTIONS DIVERGE FOR SUN/MON WITH ECMWF BRINGING A STRONGER SHORTWAVE TROUGH THRU THE CENTRAL NOAM UPPER RIDGE AND INTO THE REGION WHILE GFS HOLDS THE RIDGING/BROAD NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE REGION. ECMWF DOES SHOW SOME CONSISTENCY FOR THIS DAY 6/7 FEATURE. LONG-TERM FCST CONFIDENCE ABOVE AVERAGE FRI/SAT THEN AVERAGE TO BELOW SUN/MON WITH THE MODELS AT ODDS. WITH THE TROUGH AXIS PASSAGE/SFC LOW MOVING EAST OF THE AREA AND HGTS RISING/HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST...AREA DRIES OUT FOR MUCH OF FRI THRU SAT NIGHT. MAY BE SOME LINGERING SHRA/TSRA OVER THE NORTHEAST END OF THE FCST AREA FRI MORNING. SHRA/TSRA CHANCES RETURN FOR SUN/MON AS THE MID LEVEL TROUGH AND LOWER LEVEL THERMO- DYNAMIC FORCING/LIFT ADVERTISED BY THE ECMWF APPROACHES MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. 23.12Z GFS/ECMWF HAVE FLIPPED ROLES WITH GFS NOW THE STRONGER WITH THE PASSING SHORTWAVE TROUGH SUN/MON...HOWEVER SHRA/TSRA CHANCES SUN/MON STILL LOOK GOOD. OVERALL DID NOT STRAY FAR FROM THE MODEL/ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS GUIDANCE IN THE DAY 4-7 PERIOD. && .AVIATION...TONIGHT AND TUESDAY 1135 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 WARM AIR ADVECTION AND FRONTOGENETIC FORCING HAS LEAD TO EXPECTED CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT UPSTREAM EARLIER THIS EVENING. BEST LOW LEVEL JET IS POSED INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA SO NEW FORMATION COULD KEEP FEEDING AXIS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO WESTERN WISCONSIN. TRYING TO DETERMINE IF INITIAL STORMS WILL IMPACT KRST IS TOUGH BUT TREND IS TO STAY JUST NORTH AND NORTHEAST. OVERALL SHOWER ACTIVITY COULD LINGER THROUGH OVERNIGHT BEFORE GRADUALLY ENDING LATER THIS MORNING. OCCASIONAL MVFR VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE WITH HEAVIER RAIN BUT CEILINGS REMAIN RELATIVELY HIGH. A BIT UNCLEAR IN LATER HOURS OF FORECAST. WARM AIR ADVECTION PUSHES NORTH AND WARM SURGE COULD CLEAN THINGS OUT GOING INTO TUESDAY EVENING. GIVEN UNCERTAINTIES IF REPEAT SHOWER DEVELOP IS POSSIBLE... WILL LEAVE OUT OF FORECAST. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... 321 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...RRS LONG TERM....RRS AVIATION.....SHEA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 730 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034- 041>044-053>055-061-241100- ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE- FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE- MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON- WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA- 730 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT OCCASIONAL SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT. IF ANY STRONGER STORMS DO FORM...THEY COULD PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SOME GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS LOOK TO BE THE PRIMARY THREATS. THERE ARE ADDITIONAL CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT AND MOST OF TUESDAY. SPOTTERS COULD BE NEEDED WEDNESDAY. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. SHEA
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 1150 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 MNZ079-086>088-WIZ032-240645- BUFFALO-DODGE-OLMSTED-WABASHA-WINONA- 1150 PM CDT MON JUL 23 2012 ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA... CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACHING SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND COULD BRING ROUNDS OF HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING THROUGH PARTS OF THE OVERNIGHT. STRONGER STORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS. SOME TOWNS THAT WILL SEE PERIODIC HEAVY RAIN FIRST INCLUDE WABASHA...ZUMBRO FALLS...NORTH SIDE OF ROCHESTER AND PLAINVIEW. SHEA
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:07 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds in Rochester shorted out 5 security cameras.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 2012
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: 400417.