Lightning, Montgomery
- When
- May 6, 7:50 AM EST
- Where
- Montgomery County, Franconia
- Property damage
- $110,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.211, -75.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1998
Lightning struck and badly damaged a barn and its contents the morning of the 6th within Franconia Township in Montgomery County. Heavy downpours hampered the fire fighters and a tin roof helped hold the flames.
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
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $110,000
- 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 and badly damaged a barn and its contents the morning of the 6th within Franconia Township in Montgomery County. Heavy downpours hampered the fire fighters and a tin roof helped hold the flames. Beside the barn's roof, a 1967 Pontiac Firebird and several tractors were also damaged. Damage was estimated at $110,000. Thunderstorms produced between 4,000 and 5,000 cloud to ground strikes that morning across Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. PECO Energy and Pennsylvania Power and Light reported 25,300 customers lost power beacuse of the lightning strikes, about 18,000 within Montgomery County.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:47 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Lightning Strikes in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, 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: 5660082.