Lightning — Wayne, Michigan

2006-07-17 · near Highland Park, Wayne, Michigan

Event narrative

A couple was struck by lightning after taking shelter from the rain under a tree at 2301 EST in Krainz Park near East Hildale and Justine on Detroit's east side. The pair was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where the 44 year old woman was later pronounced dead. The 2nd person, a 46 year old male, survived but was initially in temporary serious condition at the hospital.

Wider weather episode

The July 17th severe weather event would eventually go down as the largest and most destructive of the 2006 severe weather season. Intense thunderstorms fired along and ahead of a cold front working down from the northern Great Lakes and eventually developed into a large MCS by mid evening. The Tri Cities and thumb regions were especially hard hit during this event. Several microbursts actually produced 100 MPH wind gusts across northeast Huron county, causing quite a bit of damage. The outflow created from the storms across the north actually held together long enough to spread south. There were several reports of trees blown down in areas south of M-59, although the damage was minimal when compared to the destruction across the northern parts of the area. Very few reports of hail were received, however, golf ball size hail was reported in Saginaw County. This event caused one death and one injury in Wayne County. A couple was struck by lightning after seeking refuge under a tree.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.4167, -82.7500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5526381. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.