Lightning, Merrimack
- When
- June 16, 6:00 AM EST
- Where
- Merrimack County, Bow Center
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.298, -71.680 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, June 16, 1998
Lightning struck and threw a Canadian man who was seated at table talking on the phone with his arm resting on a metal case. The incident occurred at a local truck stop.
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
- 1
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS GYX wrote it up.
Lightning struck and threw a Canadian man who was seated at table talking on the phone with his arm resting on a metal case. The incident occurred at a local truck stop. The lightning apparently struck the phone pole in front of the building, sending an electrical charge through the phone lines. The man was transported to a local hospital by ambulance and suffered a temporary paralysis to one side of his body. The phone equipment in the restaurant was also damaged.
The radar
The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:02 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 and Lightning Strikes in Michigan, June 16, 1998
- Flood in Indiana, June 16 to 28, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, June 16, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Virginia, June 16, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Maryland, June 16, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, June 16, 1998
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Utah, June 16 to 17, 1998
- Flash Flooding in New Hampshire, June 16 to 17, 1998
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, June 16, 1998
- Flash Flood and Hail in Virginia, June 16, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Ohio, June 16, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, June 16, 1998
More
Every storm in New Hampshire in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New Hampshire, 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: 5675918.