Lightning, Pittsylvania
- When
- March 20, 8:45 PM EST
- Where
- Pittsylvania County, Chatham
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 36.821, -79.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Virginia, March 20, 1998
Lightning during an evening thunderstorm on the 20th injured a man. On the west side of Chatham, a man who was outside during a thunderstorm was injured by a lightning strike.
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
- 1
- 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 RNK wrote it up.
Lightning during an evening thunderstorm on the 20th injured a man. On the west side of Chatham, a man who was outside during a thunderstorm was injured by a lightning strike.
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:44 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
- Tornadoes in Georgia, March 20, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, March 20, 1998
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, March 20, 1998
- Tornado in North Carolina, March 20, 1998
- Tornado in North Carolina, March 20, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Virginia, March 20, 1998
- Flood in Florida, March 20 to 31, 1998
- Storm Surge in Ohio, March 20 to 21, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 20, 1998
- Flood in Florida, March 20, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, March 20 to 21, 1998
- Tornado in North Carolina, March 20, 1998
More
Every storm in Virginia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, March 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: 5638165.