Lightning Strike in Florida, June 21, 1998

Name: Lightning Strike in Florida, June 21, 1998
Start: 1998-06-21T15:30
End: 1998-06-21T15:30
Location: Florida

June 21, 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.

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 2
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: June 21, 3:30 PM EST
Where: Polk County, 1 mi N of Polk City
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Under partial sunshine, sideflash from a lightning bolt of a distant thunderstorm struck and killed a 47 year old male, injured a 27 year old male and a 20 year female while they stood within 15 feet of a seven foot tall wooden pole on the 300 block of West Fussell Road north of Polk City. The lightning bolt struck the pole which was part of a pole barn under construction next to a 30 foot tall tree.The lightning strike blew off the boots of the injured female and knocked to the ground the 27 year old injured male.

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	1998-06-21	47	Male	Other	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, June 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: 5658607.