Lightning struck and killed a man while he was hiking below the South Rim of The Grand Canyon.
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 FGZ wrote it up.
Lightning struck and killed a man while he was hiking below the South Rim of The Grand Canyon.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 13, 3:40 PM MST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 340 PM MST SUN SEP 13 2015 .SYNOPSIS..TWO DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA WILL HELP LIFT TROPICAL MOISTURE PRODUCING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DAY AND NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. STRONGER WINDS ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY MAY HELP SOME OF THESE STORMS BECOME SEVERE. FROM WEDNESDAY ONWARD A DEEP TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES BRINGING DRIER AIR IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST WITH A MARKED REDUCTION IN STORM ACTIVITY THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. THIS PATTERN SHIFT MAY BRING AN END TO OUR WET MONSOON ACTIVITY FOR THE SEASON. && .DISCUSSION...THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL SLOWLY MOVE EAST INTO TEXAS WHILE A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH DEEPENS ALONG THE WEST COAST. SOUTHERLY FLOW HAS TAPPED INTO TROPICAL MOISTURE OVER MEXICO AND BROUGHT ADDITIONAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO ARIZONA. MEANWHILE TWO SHORT WAVES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE STATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT ENHANCING STORM ACTIVITY THROUGH THE DAY AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. A STRONGER WIND SHEAR PROFILE MAY BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONGER STORMS ON MONDAY...MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. WEDNESDAY ONWARD...THE LONGWAVE TROUGH MOVES IN ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES IN A BIG WAY. CONSIDERABLY DRIER AIR WILL ADVECT INTO ARIZONA FROM THE SOUTHWEST ELIMINATING CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION IN MOST LOCATIONS. THIS LARGE TROUGH FEATURE BRINGS HIGHER CONFIDENCE TO A DRYING FORECAST AS OUR LONGER RANGE MODEL GUIDANCE DOES BETTER IN THESE SITUATIONS. THE STRONGER WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TROUGH MAY BE THE SWEEPER SYSTEM THAT BRINGS AN END TO OUR WET MONSOON SEASON AND STARTS A TRANSITION TO THE FALL DRY SEASON. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 00Z PACKAGE...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUED INTO THE EVENING ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...WITH ACTIVITY DECREASING A BIT OVERNIGHT. MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLE NEAR STORMS. EXPECT MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DEVELOPING AGAIN AFTER 18Z MONDAY. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...BOHLIN AVIATION...KD FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 220 PM MST SUN SEP 13 2015 AZZ004>018-037>040-140600- KAIBAB PLATEAU-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY- COCONINO PLATEAU-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD-CHINLE VALLEY- CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS- OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS-BLACK MESA AREA- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 220 PM MST SUN SEP 13 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO... NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM FREDOINA THROUGH SHOW LOW. PRECIPITATION SHOULD DEVELOP BY LATE MORNING AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. A FEW STRONG STORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES CONTINUE ON MONDAY ACROSS THE NORTHLAND. THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE STORMS ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 345 PM MST SUN SEP 13 2015 AZZ008-018-132300- YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS-NORTHERN GILA COUNTY- 345 PM MST SUN SEP 13 2015 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHWESTERN GILA AND SOUTHEASTERN YAVAPAI COUNTIES... AT 344 PM MST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER RYE...OR 10 MILES SOUTH OF PAYSON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 55 MPH AND HALF INCH HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... PAYSON...STAR VALLEY...JAKES CORNER...RYE...ROUND VALLEY...MESA DEL CABA...GISELA...OXBOW ESTATES...DEER CREEK AND HOUSTON MESA CAMPGROUND. THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING HIGHWAYS... STATE ROUTE 260 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 252 AND 263. STATE ROUTE 188 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 272 AND 276. STATE ROUTE 87 SOUTHBOUND BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 241 AND 251. STATE ROUTE 87 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 231 AND 255. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. LAT...LON 3397 11137 3412 11149 3438 11122 3411 11097 TIME...MOT...LOC 2244Z 235DEG 14KT 3409 11136 RR
The Cedar City radar (KICX), 184 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:06 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was struck by lightning while hiking the South Kaibab Trail near Ooh Aah Point (about mile down the trail from the Rim). Paramedics were unable to resuscitate him.
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, Coconino | 2015-09-13 | 22 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, September 2015
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: 601505.