Lightning, Chester
- When
- May 6, 6:30 AM EST
- Where
- Chester County, Birmingham
- Property damage
- $180,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strikes in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1998
Lightning struck the television antenna on the roof of a home in the Radley Run Country Club development in Birmingham Township within Chester County the morning of the 6th. The ensuing fire destroyed half 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
- $180,000
- 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 PHI wrote it up.
Lightning struck the television antenna on the roof of a home in the Radley Run Country Club development in Birmingham Township within Chester County the morning of the 6th. The ensuing fire destroyed half the house. The fire started behind a dresser in the guest bedroom and then spread to the curtains and other rooms. Three persons within the house escaped injury. It took 45 firefighters an hour to extinguish the fire. Damage was estimated at $180,000. In nearby Thornbury Township, lightning demolished a house's chimney. A third home was also struck by lightning within the county with no apparent damage. Thunderstorms produced between 4,000 and 5,000 cloud to ground strikes that morning across Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. PECO Energy and Pennsylvania Power and Light reported 30,200 customers lost power because of the lightning strikes in the northwest Philadelphia suburbs. There were 3,600 outages within Chester County and 2,600 outages within neighboring Delaware County.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:31 UTC.
Event by event
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Chester
- When
- May 6, 6:35 AM EST
- Where
- Chester County, 4 mi SE of West Chester
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.973, -75.748 (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
- Flash Flood in Missouri, May 6, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, May 6 to 24, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Virginia, May 6 to 8, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, May 6, 1998
- Tornado in Arkansas, May 6, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Tennessee, May 6, 1998
- Flooding in Iowa, May 6 to 7, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, May 6, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1998
- Hail in Alabama, May 6, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, May 6, 1998
- Hail in Kansas, May 6, 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: 5660080, 5660081.