Lightning — Burnett, Wisconsin

2011-07-01 · near Hertel, Burnett, Wisconsin

Event narrative

An eleven year old girl was killed while trying to escape the approaching storm. Lightning struck a tree and the tree fell on the girl, killing her. The tree was so large that it took 20 men to remove it.

Wider weather episode

A strong but nearly stationary cold front ran just inland from the Minnesota north shore of Lake Superior southwestward through the Sioux Falls SD area. Warm and unstable air with high surface dew points pooled along and east of the front, including over the Wisconsin blow down area. A cluster of thunderstorms became severe just west of the upper St Croix river, in Pine County MN, and spread rapidly northeastward through northwest Wisconsin. Extensive straight-line wind damage occurred. In Burnett County 140,000 acres of trees were damaged or destroyed, which is estimated to be 1.5 million cords. Damage to public property, like roads and trails, was $1.8 million. Uninsured property damage was estimated at $350,000. The storm injured 39 people. Most injuries were minor.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.8121, -92.0748)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 336379. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.