Lightning, Cumberland
- When
- March 29, 5:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
- Where
- Cumberland County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $225,000
- Coordinates
- 43.806, -70.330 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Maine, March 29, 1997
A cluster of early spring thunderstorms with powerful lightning damaged a church, three homes, and the State Police barracks in Gray. One of the homes sustained more than $200,000 in damages from a fire which was caused by the lightning stroke.
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
- $225,000
- 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 GYX wrote it up.
A cluster of early spring thunderstorms with powerful lightning damaged a church, three homes, and the State Police barracks in Gray. One of the homes sustained more than $200,000 in damages from a fire which was caused by the lightning stroke. At the State Police barracks, a nearby stroke of lightning knocked out communications for about 4 hours.
The radar
The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 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
- Tornadoes in Tennessee, March 29, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Florida, March 29, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, March 29, 1997
- Tornado in Georgia, March 29, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 29, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, March 29 to 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 29, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, March 29, 1997
- Tornado in Maryland, March 29, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Texas, March 29, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 29, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Maryland, March 29, 1997
More
Every storm in Maine in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, March 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: 5624667.