Lightning, Cumberland
- When
- August 3, 2:15 PM EST
- Where
- Cumberland County, Gorham
- Injuries
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 43.806, -70.330 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Maine, August 3, 1997
Three men and a woman were injured when they were struck by lightning while standing under a rain shelter on a golf course during a thunderstorm. Each of the four golfers had entrance and exit wounds and were taken to area hospitals for treatment and evaluation.
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
- 4
- 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 GYX wrote it up.
Three men and a woman were injured when they were struck by lightning while standing under a rain shelter on a golf course during a thunderstorm. Each of the four golfers had entrance and exit wounds and were taken to area hospitals for treatment and evaluation.
The radar
The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:13 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 Flooding and Flooding in Arizona, August 3 to 31, 1997
- Lightning Strike in New Mexico, August 3, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, August 3, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 3, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, August 3, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 3, 1997
- Hail in Wisconsin, August 3, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Minnesota, August 3, 1997
- Hail in Iowa, August 3, 1997
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Vermont, August 3, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, August 3, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 3, 1997
More
Every storm in Maine in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, August 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: 5625003.