Lightning, Ocean
- When
- May 3, 4:15 AM EST
- Where
- Ocean County, Whiting
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Jersey, May 3, 1998
Lightning apparently struck a tree, traveled along the saturated ground, entered a tent and killed a 22-year-old National Guardsman during a routine artillery training weekend at McGuire Air Force Base. The lightning also injured five others, two critcially and one seriously.
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
- 1
- Injuries
- 5
- 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 PHI wrote it up.
Lightning apparently struck a tree, traveled along the saturated ground, entered a tent and killed a 22-year-old National Guardsman during a routine artillery training weekend at McGuire Air Force Base. The lightning also injured five others, two critcially and one seriously. A medic was also injured while trying to help the injured. They were all members of the Third Battalion Battery B, 112th Field Artillery and among 7,300 Army Reserve and National Guard Troops involved in weekend training. The soldiers were in their sleeping bags within the tents when the lightning apparently struck the pine tree.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:16 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Ocean | 1998-05-03 | 22 | Male | Camping | 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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, May 3, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Arkansas, May 3, 1998
- Hail in Alabama, May 3, 1998
- Hail in Georgia, May 3, 1998
- Hail in Alabama, May 3, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 3, 1998
- Hail in Alabama, May 3, 1998
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, May 3, 1998
- Hail in Alabama, May 3, 1998
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 3, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 3, 1998
- Tornado in Illinois, May 3, 1998
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, May 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: 5660079.