Lightning Strike in Florida, July 6, 1998

Name: Lightning Strike in Florida, July 6, 1998
Start: 1998-07-06T14:00
End: 1998-07-06T14:00
Location: Florida

July 6, 1998 · NWS TBW · 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

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The toll

Deaths: 2
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.

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Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Polk

When: July 6, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Polk County, 2 mi N of Lakeland
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two men were killed, aged 43 and 37, while standing under a tree that was struck by lightning at the Huntington Hills Golf Club in North Lakeland. The lightning strike occurred near a grove of eight trees near the 12th hole of the golf course. Light rain had been falling prior to the lightning strike.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Polk	1998-07-06	43	Male	Under Tree	Direct
Lightning, Polk	1998-07-06	37	Male	Under Tree	Direct

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

Every storm in Florida in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, July 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: 5666370.