Hail, Ocean
- When
- July 16, 1:25 PM EST
- Where
- Ocean County, Manahawkin
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 39.700, -74.250
Hail and Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 16, 1997
A severe thunderstorm dropped penny size hail and produced frequent lightning in southern Ocean County. A 22-year-old-woman was injured when she was struck by lightning while using a pay telephone next to a Warren Grove restaurant.
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
- 1
- Property damage
- $100,000
- 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.
A severe thunderstorm dropped penny size hail and produced frequent lightning in southern Ocean County. A 22-year-old-woman was injured when she was struck by lightning while using a pay telephone next to a Warren Grove restaurant. In Barnegat Township, lightning caused extensive damage to one home, struck and split a tree onto another home and punched a hole in the steeple of the United Methodist Church. Penny size hail fell in Manahawkin.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:22 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Ocean
- When
- July 16, 1:30 PM EST
- Where
- Ocean County, Barnegat
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- 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 and Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 16, 1997
- Heat in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 16, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Dakota, July 16, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 16, 1997
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, July 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: 5614490, 5614491.