Pennsylvania, 1998

Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 29, 1998

May 29, 1998 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck a large metal shed and started a fire in Plainfield Township. The 50 foot wide wood lining within the shed caught on fire.

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
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The toll

Deaths
0
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

Lightning struck a large metal shed and started a fire in Plainfield Township. The 50 foot wide wood lining within the shed caught on fire. A 15 foot section of the shed's metal side melted because of the intense heat as did some four wheelers and a golf cart within the shed. Firefighters had to close Pennsylvania State Route 191 while fighting the blaze. Elsewhere within Northampton County, lightning knocked down a couple of trees within Bangor.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Northampton

When
May 29, 5:30 PM EST
Where
Northampton County, 2 mi SE of Wind Gap
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (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

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5660184.