Lightning, New London
- When
- June 19, 1:55 AM EST
- Where
- New London County, Griswold
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 41.504, -72.101 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Connecticut, June 19, 1997
A boy was struck by lightning while celebrating the last day of school with four friends in a shed by Beachdale Pond. He was changing a CD in a disc player when lightning struck an electrical socket or skipped off the nearby pond.
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
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- 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 OKX wrote it up.
A boy was struck by lightning while celebrating the last day of school with four friends in a shed by Beachdale Pond. He was changing a CD in a disc player when lightning struck an electrical socket or skipped off the nearby pond. The State Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that the boy was killed by electric shock.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:55 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, New London | 1997-06-19 | 16 | Male | Other | Direct |
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
- Hail in South Dakota, June 19, 1997
- Hail in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 19 to 20, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, June 19, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 19 to 20, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, June 19, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 19, 1997
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Colorado, June 19, 1997
More
Every storm in Connecticut in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, June 1997
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: 5610269.