Lightning — Bedford, Virginia

2016-07-14 · near Stone Mt, Bedford, Virginia

Event narrative

A man was struck by lightning while walking along Highway 122. He later died from his injuries.

Wider weather episode

A weak upper level disturbance arriving from the Ohio River Valley moved across the central Appalachians during the afternoon and evening, contributing to the atmospheric instability provided by strong surface heating that allowed afternoon temperatures to climb into the mid to upper 80s across the mountains, and into the lower to mid 90s east of the Blue Ridge. Downdraft CAPE values were observed in the 1000 to 1200 J/Kg range by late afternoon across the Piedmont of Virginia. Mid-level winds ahead of the approaching disturbance approached 30 knots, which supported multi-cellular cluster storms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2105, -79.5804)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 650989. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.