Lightning, Palm Beach
- When
- July 4, 12:53 PM EST
- Where
- Palm Beach County, Pahokee
- Injuries
- 9 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
In a park in Pahokee, nine youths, ages 9 to 18, were injured by lightning when they huddled beneath an australian pine tree. They had just come from swimming in Lake Okeechobee.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 9
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MFL wrote it up.
In a park in Pahokee, nine youths, ages 9 to 18, were injured by lightning when they huddled beneath an australian pine tree. They had just come from swimming in Lake Okeechobee. One of the injuries was serious. The lightning strike was the only one observed during the thunderstorm.
The radar
The Miami radar (KAMX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in Florida, July 4 to 8, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, July 4 to 8, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, July 4, 1996
- Flood in New York, July 4, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5561825.