Lightning, Hampden
- When
- August 23, 4:15 PM EST
- Where
- Hampden County, Ludlow
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Massachusetts, August 23, 1996
A severe thunderstorm brought a wind gust to 60 mph to a part of Westfield and West Springfield. A tree and some wires were reported knocked down.
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
- 1
- 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 BOX wrote it up.
A severe thunderstorm brought a wind gust to 60 mph to a part of Westfield and West Springfield. A tree and some wires were reported knocked down. Several hours after the storm, at 9:30 PM, a large tree, likely weakened by the earlier strong winds, fell on a crowd of people gathered at an outdoor festival, killing one man and injuring six other people. Dime size hail fell in Holyoke and nickel size hail was reported in West Springfield. A cable TV repairman was struck and injured by lightning in Ludlow.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:13 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
- Flash Flood in Missouri, August 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 23, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, August 23, 1996
- Flood in Florida, August 23, 1996
- Damaging Wind in New York, August 23, 1996
- Tornado in Florida, August 23, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in California, August 23, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, August 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in New York, August 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Indiana, August 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in New York, August 23, 1996
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, August 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: 5582211.