Florida, 1998

Lightning Strike in Florida, August 9, 1998

August 9, 1998 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Santa Rosa

When
August 9, 2:00 PM CST to 2:05 PM CST
Where
Santa Rosa County, 3 mi SE of Milton
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.693, -87.018 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four children were playing in an abandoned clay pit when a thunderstorm moved in. They decided to get under a cliff overhang to get away from the lightning and the rain. Heavy rains caused the cliff overhang to collapse on the four children. Three of the children died before they could be freed from the dirt.

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

More

Every storm in Florida in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 1998

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: 5666441.