Lightning — Faribault, Minnesota

2012-05-06 · near Blue Earth, Faribault, Minnesota

Event narrative

Two people were killed in a house fire in Blue Earth, Minnesota, Sunday morning around 5 a.m. The deceased were a 39 year old male, and a 47 year old male. An investigation found the cause of the fire had been a lightning strike to the home, which had no functioning smoke detectors.

Wider weather episode

Two waves of thunderstorms moved across southern and central Minnesota over a span of 12 to 18 hours and produced up to 2 to 5 inches of rainfall across portions of the area. The first complex moved across southern Minnesota and produced large hail near New Ulm. This area quickly moved off to the east into western Wisconsin before dissipating in the afternoon. A second complex of thunderstorms developed across southeast South Dakota in the afternoon, and moved northeast into west central Minnesota and produced large hail near Chokio, Minnesota. This complex then move eastward into east central Minnesota and produced large hail and torrential rainfall during the early morning hours across the Twin Cities Metro area. Two indirect deaths occurred in a house fire in Blue Earth, Minnesota, Sunday morning May 6 around 5 a.m. The deceased were a 39 year old male and a 47 year old male. An investigation found the cause of the fire had been a lightning strike to the home, which had no functioning smoke detectors.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.6448, -94.0909)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 370444. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.