Lightning — Carroll, Virginia

2025-07-17 · near Eona, Carroll, Virginia

Event narrative

Lightning struck the steeple of Shiloh Methodist Church and set it on fire. The fire department extinguished the fire quickly, but water damage was reported from the church during this effort.

Wider weather episode

A hot and humid air mass combined with orographical lift to produce isolated severe thunderstorms across southwest Virginia. Damaging wind gusts from these storms blew down a few trees in Bedford and Henry counties, and lightning from one of these storms struck the steeple of a church in Carroll County and set it on fire.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.7648, -80.8012)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1271067. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.