Pennsylvania, 1998

Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1998

May 6, 1998 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck a house within New Britain Borough the morning of the 6th. It caused an electrical fire within the basement and badly damaged it.

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.

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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 house within New Britain Borough the morning of the 6th. It caused an electrical fire within the basement and badly damaged it. Fire damage was confined to the basement, but heat and smoke damage spread through the first and second floors of the house. No injuries occurred or property damage estimate was available. 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 30,200 customers lost power beacuse of the lightning strikes, about 6,000 within Bucks County.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:59 UTC.

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Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Bucks

When
May 6, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Bucks County, New Britain
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.337, -75.107 (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: 5660083.