Lightning, Northampton
- When
- May 6, 11:15 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
- Where
- Northampton County, 1 mi W of Wilson
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Coordinates
- 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1997
Lightning struck a tree near a Palmer Township house and went indoors. The lightning struck the tree and followed its root into the house.
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
- $20,000
- 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 PHI wrote it up.
Lightning struck a tree near a Palmer Township house and went indoors. The lightning struck the tree and followed its root into the house. It started a small fire in the basement and fried all the wiring within the house. The force of the lightning was strong enough to blow a dresser down, force tiles off a floor, pop nails and knock over pictures from a wall in the basement. No one was injured and the fire extinguished itself within the basement.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:15 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
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, May 6, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in New Mexico, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 6 to 27, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in New York, May 6, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Wind in New York, May 6, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New Jersey, May 6, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 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: 5608950.