Monday, June 15, 2009

"Moroni" Gets Struck By Lightning Atop The LDS Oquirrh Mountain Temple In South Jordan, Utah

Update August 11th: Statue replaced; see updated post HERE.


The statue of Moroni atop the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' new Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan, Utah, is not as "bright and delightsome" as it once was. It appears to have taken a lightning strike during a bout of heavy thunderstorms which rumbled through the Salt Lake Valley.

Steve Allison, a resident of South Jordan who lives near the temple, said lightning was dropping in the area Saturday and Sunday (June 13-14), and it was obvious lightning had struck the temple's unofficial lightning rod. "(The Angel) is the only thing up there, Daybreak is pretty flat," Allison said. "Saturday afternoon we were getting big strikes, one shook the house and knocked the power out." One source estimates there were 6,000 to 8,000 lightning strikes in the Salt Lake Valley on Saturday alone. KSL Channel 5 news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com



Northern Utah has been battered by showers and thunderstorms all month as the normal high pressure center setting up over the West has not materialized. Precipitation has been recorded on seven days during the month so far. Minor flooding in Herriman and Grantsville has been recorded, and a street opened up and swallowed a backhoe in Sandy. Rainfall for the month already surpassed normal at 1.02 inches. June precipitation averages .77 of an inch.

The incident is not expected to impact the open house currently in progress at the temple, where members of the public are allowed to tour the facility. The last day of the open house is August 1st, after which the temple will be formally dedicated. Admission is free but reservations are required; visit the LDS website for more information.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, well then the LDS Church is not true. It says in the crystal Coptic texts unearthed in lower andetharvi region of zooastaaos that lightning can't strike God's building.

I think it's in the first Book of Bill Nye 17:42-43

Jack Mormon said...

What? You mean Bill Nye the SCIENCE guy? One of PBS's icons? LOL!