Lightning — Massac, Illinois

2025-07-18 · near Round Knob, Massac, Illinois

Event narrative

Lightning struck a barn on Mermet Rd, which resulted in a fire that fully engulfed the barn and burned it down.

Wider weather episode

A surface boundary was positioned west to east across the Quad State during the early afternoon with convective activity increasing with daytime heating. Scattered convection primarily occurred south of the boundary mid to late afternoon. MLCAPE reached 2000J/kg but effective bulk shear was very limited. Precipitable water values over 2 allowed for torrential rainfall rates. Training storm occurrence was limited, leaving flash flooding south of Harrisburg as the one flood report out of Southern Illinois.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2579, -88.7667)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1304272. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.