Lightning — Matanuska Valley, Alaska

2015-04-16 · near Wasilla, Matanuska Valley, Alaska

$2K

Property damage

Event narrative

A lightning strike near Houston, AK knocked out power for more than 28,000 people.

The lightning strike at 5:42 p.m. affected the Intertie between Anchorage and Fairbanks, knocking out power from Willow to as far as North Pole and Salcha. According to Golden Valley Electric Association, strike knocked out 11 substations.

Power was restored to most people by 6:08 p.m., except some in the Cantwell area because of breaker problems in the Healy substation. Power was restored in Cantwell by 11:00 PM.

Wider weather episode

Early season convection resulted in a lighting strike that impacted tens of thousands of Alaskans, from the Southcentral region to the Interior.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (61.6746, -149.9349)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 564780. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.