Lightning, Suffolk
- When
- February 12, 7:50 AM EST
- Where
- Suffolk County, Ridge
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strikes in New York, February 12, 1998
Lightning caused significant structural damage to a house at 59 Giant Oak Road in Ridge. According to the Ridge Fire Department, lightning struck the house.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 OKX wrote it up.
Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching warm front.Lightning caused significant structural damage to a house at 59 Giant Oak Road in Ridge. According to the Ridge Fire Department, lightning struck the house. Two-by-fours in the roof exploded and struck and punctured the house next to the one that caught fire. The second floor of this two-story Cape Cod was totally destroyed.Lightning also struck a house on Bay Haven Road in Southold. It gouged a hole at the base of a tree and carved a furrow across the lawn. Lightning struck the sprinkler system, hit the septic tank, ran along the pipes, blew the cap from the waste pipe into the basement stairs (cracking them), and struck the clothes dryer which ignited a basement fire.
The radar
The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:50 UTC.
Event by event
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Suffolk
- When
- February 12, 8:21 AM EST
- Where
- Suffolk County, Southold
- Coordinates
- 40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Hail in Texas, February 12, 1998
- High Surf in Hawaii, February 12 to 17, 1998
- High Surf in Hawaii, February 12 to 15, 1998
- Flooding in Kentucky, February 12 to 14, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 12 to 23, 1998
- Hail in Texas, February 12, 1998
- High Wind in California, February 12, 1998
- High Wind in Oregon, February 12, 1998
- High Wind in Oregon, February 12, 1998
- Hail in Texas, February 12, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 12 to 14, 1998
- High Wind in California, February 12, 1998
More
Every storm in New York in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, February 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: 5636899, 5636900.