Lightning, Charlotte
- When
- May 30, 2:00 AM EST
- Where
- Charlotte County, 2 mi SE of Port Charlotte
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 26.900, -81.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Florida, May 30, 1996
Lightning struck and split open a 60 foot section of a 12-inch water main located in a field behind the Whidden Industrial Park on Harborview Road in Charlotte Harbor. Nearly 100 residents were without water from the freak lightning strike for at least 48 hours.
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
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- 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 TBW wrote it up.
Lightning struck and split open a 60 foot section of a 12-inch water main located in a field behind the Whidden Industrial Park on Harborview Road in Charlotte Harbor. Nearly 100 residents were without water from the freak lightning strike for at least 48 hours.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Tornado in Colorado, May 30, 1996
- Tornado in Colorado, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 30, 1996
- Tornado in Nebraska, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Wyoming, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Cold in New York, May 30, 1996
- Cold in Pennsylvania, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Texas, May 30, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 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: 5574060.