Wisconsin, 2016

Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, October 12, 2016

October 12, 2016 · NWS MKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck the top of a Madison wastewater treatment plant causing a fire.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.

Lightning struck the top of a Madison wastewater treatment plant causing a fire.

What forecasters said that day

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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 12, 2:43 AM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 2:43 AM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 12, 5:20 AM CST, 30 minutes before
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    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
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        Please try again in a few minutes.
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        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Dane

When
October 12, 5:50 AM CST to 6:05 AM CST
Where
Dane County, 1.35 mi SSE of Blooming Grove
Property damage
$4,000
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
43.033, -89.357

Lightning struck the top of a Madison wastewater treatment plant causing a fire. The fire was quickly contained and extinguished by the local firefighters.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, October 2016

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 661970.