Thunderstorms moved across southeast Minnesota during the evening hours of August 6th. A lightning strike from one of these storms hit a tree and then traveled along a gas line into a rural Mazeppa (Wabasha County) home.
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The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms moved across southeast Minnesota during the evening hours of August 6th. A lightning strike from one of these storms hit a tree and then traveled along a gas line into a rural Mazeppa (Wabasha County) home. A small fire inside the home was quickly extinguished.
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 Aug 6, 5:34 PM CST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 634 PM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 323 PM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE ON SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TONIGHT. FOCUS THEN TURNS TO SHOWER AND STORM CHANCES THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA WILL MAKE ITS WAY SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THIS FEATURE LOOKS TO BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. A RIBBON OF CAPE PUSHES NORTHWARD AHEAD OF THE SHORTWAVE AND SURFACE LOW AND EDGES INTO THE FORECAST AREA LATE TONIGHT WITH 0-1 KM MUCAPE VALUES OF 700-1500 J/KG POSSIBLE MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN. THIS IS BASED OFF OF THE GFS40...WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON DEWPOINTS VERSUS THE NAM. GIVEN THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF CAPE AND SHEAR TO WORK WITH...NOT EXPECTING SEVERE STORMS TONIGHT. MESOSCALE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING WE COULD SEE COUPLE OF ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE STORMS. THE FIRST COULD IMPACT THE REGION LATE THIS EVENING THEN A SECOND ROUND MOVES THROUGH LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. THE 12Z ECMWF WANTS TO TAKE THE BULK OF THE SHOWERS AND STORM FURTHER NORTH...MAINLY ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA THROUGH NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND UPPER MICHIGAN. WILL LEAN TOWARD A CONSENSUS BLEND BETWEEN THE CAMS AND THE ECMWF WHICH RESULTS IN HIGHER POPS MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 90 CORRIDOR LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING. SHOWERS AND STORMS SHOULD SHIFT EAST OF THE REGION BY LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH WEAK RIDGING BUILDING IN. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 323 PM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 FLOW ALOFT TURNS ZONAL THIS WEEKEND A FEW WEAK EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. THE BULK OF THE INSTABILITY STAYS BOTTLED UP TO THE SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR. HOWEVER WE WILL HAVE SOME CAPE TO WORK WITH...WITH SURFACE BASES VALUES OF 700 TO 900 J/KG. A WEAK WAVE LOOKS TO MOVE THROUGH DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY WITH ANOTHER POSSIBLY IMPACTING THE AREA ON SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. BETTER FORCING MOVES IN LATE SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT AS A TROUGH SWINGS IN FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS SO EXPECTING THIS TIMEFRAME TO HOLD THE MOST PROMISE OF SEE BENEFICIAL RAINFALL ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. DRY NORTHWEST FLOW RETURNS LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY AS A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE CENTRAL CONUS. DRY WEATHER IS THEN EXPECTED FROM MONDAY NIGHT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL. VALLEY FOG LOOKS TO BE THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN FOR NEXT WEEK WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVERHEAD. BASED ON THE ECMWF...WEDNESDAY MORNING AND THURSDAY MORNING LOOK TO BE THE MOST FAVORABLE TIMES FOR THIS VALLEY FOG POTENTIAL. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 634 PM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 700 MB MOISTURE TRANSPORT ASSOCIATED WITH A SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL PRODUCE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90 THIS EVENING. DURING THE OVERNIGHT...ANOTHER SHORT WAVE TROUGH LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND STORMS. THIS IS THE SYSTEM THAT LOOKS TO BRING SHOWERS AND STORMS TO THE TAF SITES. AT THIS TIME...IT LOOKS LIKE THIS SHOULD OCCUR AT KRST BETWEEN 07.05Z AND 07.10Z...AND AT KLSE BETWEEN 07.09Z AND 07.14Z. THESE STORMS MAY BRING A PERIOD OF IFR/MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES. THE CONFIDENCE WAS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO INCLUDE THIS IN THE TAFS AT THIS TIME. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...WETENKAMP LONG TERM...WETENKAMP AVIATION...BOYNE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 455 AM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-071100- MITCHELL-HOWARD-WINNESHIEK-ALLAMAKEE-FLOYD-CHICKASAW-FAYETTE- CLAYTON-WABASHA-DODGE-OLMSTED-WINONA-MOWER-FILLMORE-HOUSTON- TAYLOR-CLARK-BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU-JACKSON-LA CROSSE-MONROE-JUNEAU- ADAMS-VERNON-CRAWFORD-RICHLAND-GRANT- 455 AM CDT THU AUG 6 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS COULD BE STRONG AT TIMES BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A FEW LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY MORNING... BUT THEY SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY INTO MONDAY...BUT THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. SHEA
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:22 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning hit a tree and then traveled along a gas line into a rural Mazeppa home. A small fire was started inside the house that was quickly extinguished.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, August 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: 595585.