Lightning — Beaver, Utah

2017-07-29 · near Beaver, Beaver, Utah

Event narrative

Two girls, ages 8 and 16, were camping with relatives near Big Flat in the Beaver Mountains. The girls were by themselves, accompanied by a family dog, when they were both struck by lightning. The dog returned to camp to alert the rest of the family, and the family found the girls unconscious. Both girls were flown via helicopter to the hospital, and both survived, despite suffering significant injuries.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms continued across Utah for the last week of July, with many storms producing heavy rainfall. This led to flash flooding in many locations, including a particularly damaging flood in Salt Lake City. A lightning strike also led to two injuries on the morning of July 28.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2894, -112.3677)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 716806. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.