Two men were killed when they sought refuge under a tree during a thunderstorm.
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 HGX wrote it up.
Two men were killed when they sought refuge under a tree during a thunderstorm.
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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 15, 9:13 AM CST, 1 hour 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1013 AM CDT SUN JUL 15 2012 .DISCUSSION... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE COAST MOVING NORTHEAST. THESE HAVE PRODUCED GUSTS OF 20-27 KTS AND .77" OF RAIN AT GLS. 00Z/06Z MODELS DID A VERY POOR JOB IN RESOLVING THESE STORMS AS WELL AS THE TEXAS TECH WRF/4KM NAT WRF THOUGH THE RUC HAS DONE A MARGINAL JOB BUT WITH TOO MUCH CONVECTION OVER THE GULF. WATER VAPOR HAS A SMALL CYCLONIC CIRCULATION EMBEDDED IN THE MOIST AXIS JUST WEST OF MATAGORDA BAY. AREA SOUNDINGS AND ACARS SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT CONVECTIVE TEMPS OF 82 TO 85 SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. HAVE RAISED POPS IN THE SOUTH AND NORTHEAST FOR THE SHORT TERM TRENDS THIS MORNING AND IN THE WEST FOR THE AFTERNOON AS VORT LIFTS NORTH AND SPEED DIVERGENCE ALOFT HAS SOME ADDITIONAL LIFT. SHEAR AXIS CONTINUES TO MOVE WEST AND THIS TO SHOULD HELP TO DESTABILIZE THE WESTERN AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. STILL WORRIED ABOUT THE MOIST AXIS ACROSS THE CENTRAL GULF AND OVER LA...WV CONTINUES TO CLEARLY DEPICT THE WESTWARD PROGRESSION...COULD MAKE FOR A WET MONDAY/TUESDAY. 45 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 91 73 92 74 93 / 40 20 30 20 30 HOUSTON (IAH) 90 74 91 75 92 / 40 20 30 10 30 GALVESTON (GLS) 88 81 90 81 90 / 40 20 30 20 30 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && DISCUSSION...45
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 412 AM CDT SUN JUL 15 2012 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-160915- AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND- GALVESTON-GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-MADISON-MATAGORDA- MONTGOMERY-POLK-SAN JACINTO-TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON- WHARTON- 412 AM CDT SUN JUL 15 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TODAY. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS NOT EXPECTED AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LESS THAN THE PAST FEW DAYS. AVERAGE RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BE A HALF INCH OR LESS WITH SOME ISOLATED TOTALS BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES IN THE STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED EACH DAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE LESS THAN A HALF INCH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:04 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two men who were playing soccer were killed by a lightning strike while seeking shelter under a tree on the perimeter of the field. A third man was injured.
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, Harris | 2012-07-15 | 26 | Male | Under Tree | Direct |
| Lightning, Harris | 2012-07-15 | 27 | Male | Under Tree | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, 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: 383393.