Lightning, Mercer
- When
- June 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Mercer County, Trenton
- Coordinates
- 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Jersey, June 13, 1997
Frequent cloud to ground lightning damaged several homes and buildings in and around Trenton. Lightning struck the corner of the Mercer County Courthouse and sprayed pieces of a concrete railing onto the street.
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
- 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 PHI wrote it up.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning damaged several homes and buildings in and around Trenton. Lightning struck the corner of the Mercer County Courthouse and sprayed pieces of a concrete railing onto the street. Lightning struck a rotten tree near a home on Riverside Avenue in Trenton and knocked it down. The tree damaged the home's roof and crushed its garage. Lightning also struck two homes, one in Trenton and one in Hamilton and caused minimal damage. Lightning hit a transformer outside of the Saint Francis Medical Center in Trenton. A 13,000 volt cable disconnected from the transformer and was "dancing around" in the street before power was turned off. The medical center had to run on generator power for 30 minutes.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:59 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
- Tornado in Kentucky, June 13, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, June 13, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 13, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, June 13, 1997
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Colorado, June 13 to 15, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 13, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, June 13, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, June 13, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Tennessee, June 13 to 14, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, June 13, 1997
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Texas, June 13, 1997
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Wyoming, June 13, 1997
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, 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: 5611929.