Lightning — Avery, North Carolina

2021-08-13 · near Linville, Avery, North Carolina

Event narrative

A lightning strike near Macrae Peak in Grandfather Mountain State Park injured seven people. One individual fell, resulting in a head injury which required them to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. Another suffered burns, while other injuries were minor.

Wider weather episode

Isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms developed across western North Carolina throughout the afternoon and evening. Cloud to ground lightning from one of the storms caused injuries in the Grandfather Mountain area during the early afternoon. An isolated severe storm produced damaging wind gusts in Rowan County during the late evening.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.1010, -81.8230)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 982213. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.