Tragic weather: Lightning strike kills Alabama man

Sadly, there is another lightning death to report. This time it happened in Alabama on Saturday, July 20.

On Saturday, a low-pressure system and frontal boundary traveled over the Southeast. This setup, combined with plenty of heat, ignited strong to severe thunderstorms across eastern Alabama in the afternoon. As you can see on our WeatherRadar archive from Saturday, storms grew in intensity and produced many lightning strikes between noon and 2 p.m. CT.

A 67-year-old man was at a flea market in Smith Station, Alabama, located northwest of Columbus, Georgia, when lightning struck him. This marks the seventh lightning death this year. On average by July 22, there are 11 deaths due to lightning. One death is one too many, and these are deaths that can be preventable.

Lightning fatalities tend to increase in the summertime as there are more storms and more people outdoors. Please make sure to stay weather aware, follow the WeatherRadar each day, and set up your phone to receive notifications about any storms that could be nearby. Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away from the base of a storm. Stay safe.