New Jersey, 1997

Lightning Strike and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, August 13, 1997

August 13, 1997 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms with frequent lightning caused power outages and damage to electrical equipment in Berkeley, Dover and Manchester Townships. Dover Township was hit the hardest with about 1,000 homes and businesses still without that night.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 PHI wrote it up.

Thunderstorms with frequent lightning caused power outages and damage to electrical equipment in Berkeley, Dover and Manchester Townships. Dover Township was hit the hardest with about 1,000 homes and businesses still without that night. The heavy rain that accompanied this thunderstorm also helped cause a roadway to buckle in Toms River.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Ocean

When
August 13, 1:20 PM EST
Where
Ocean County, Toms River
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Ocean

When
August 13, 1:20 PM EST
Where
Ocean County, Toms River
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, 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: 5621504, 5621505.