Lightning — Shawnee, Kansas

2007-08-17 · near Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas

Event narrative

A woman was struck by lightning near the 2700 block on SW Villa West Dr. in Topeka. She was originally taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, and later passed away as a reult of these injuries. A second man was struck by a lightning bolt in an open air garage next to his home. The bolt struck his house, traveled through a cord, and into the light the man was holding. He was knocked unconscious, needed to be recussitated, and ended up with injuries to his arm.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed out ahead of a shortwave trough tracking across Wyoming during the afternoon hours of the 17th. A weak differential heating boundary located in the vicinity of the Kansas/Nebraska border also served as a focus for convective development. Scattered reports of non-severe hail and thunderstorm winds gusts filtered in, along with one report of severe hail and one severe damaging wind gust. The most damaging report received though, was due to lightning. One woman in Topeka died several days after being struck by lightning shortly after 4pm on the 17th. A man was injured when a building next to his was struck by lightning, and the bolt traveled through a wire and into the lamp he had been holding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.0500, -95.6800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 54711. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.