Lightning, Berks
- When
- May 31, 11:30 PM EST
- Where
- Berks County, Reading
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strikes in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
A thunderstorm with frequent lightning caused two injuries in and around Reading. Within the city itself, lightning struck and injured a man walking on 11th and Rockland Streets.
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
- 2
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 PHI wrote it up.
A thunderstorm with frequent lightning caused two injuries in and around Reading. Within the city itself, lightning struck and injured a man walking on 11th and Rockland Streets. In Exeter Township, a 74-year-old woman suffered a leg injury when lightning struck a tree and it landed on and destroyed her mobile home.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Berks
- When
- May 31, 11:30 PM EST
- Where
- Berks County, 2 mi SE of St Lawrence
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (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 and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 31, 1998
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Massachusetts, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Vermont, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, May 31, 1998
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: 5660405, 5660406.