Lightning, Chester
- When
- August 28, 7:35 PM EST
- Where
- Chester County, 2 mi N of Kennett Square
- Coordinates
- 39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strikes in Pennsylvania, August 28, 1997
Frequent lightning caused two fires in Chester County the evening of the 28th. One forced the evacuation of 150 residents from the Pocopson Nursing Home after an electrical fire started.
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
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.
Frequent lightning caused two fires in Chester County the evening of the 28th. One forced the evacuation of 150 residents from the Pocopson Nursing Home after an electrical fire started. The second burned a barn completely to the ground in East Marlborough Township. The flames from the second fire were visible for two miles. No injuries were reported from either fire.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:37 UTC.
Event by event
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Chester
- When
- August 28, 7:45 PM EST
- Where
- Chester County, Pocopson
- Coordinates
- 39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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 and Hail in Nebraska, August 28, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, August 28 to 29, 1997
- Flash Flood and Hail in Nevada, August 28, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, August 28, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in Colorado, August 28, 1997
- Hail in Colorado, August 28, 1997
- Flash Flooding in New Hampshire, August 28, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 28, 1997
- Hail in Montana, August 28, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, August 28, 1997
- Hail in New York, August 28, 1997
- Hail in Vermont, August 28, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5621729, 5621730.