Lightning, Mercer
- When
- August 21, 1:15 PM EST
- Where
- Mercer County, Princeton
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 37.406, -81.111 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in West Virginia, August 21, 1996
A thunderstorm during the afternoon hours on the 21st produced lightning which damaged computers in Princeton.
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
- $3,000
- 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 RNK wrote it up.
A thunderstorm during the afternoon hours on the 21st produced lightning which damaged computers in Princeton.
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:12 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
- Flood in Kansas, August 21 to 22, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, August 21, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, August 21, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 21, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 21, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Arizona, August 21, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, August 21, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Ohio, August 21, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, August 21, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, August 21, 1996
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, August 21, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, August 21, 1996
More
Every storm in West Virginia in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, 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: 5565026.