Lightning, Rockingham
- When
- August 17, 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Rockingham County, Portsmouth
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, August 17, 1999
Lightning struck a metal-roofed brewery at the Pease International Tradeport causing a surge of electricity that fried the brewery's control panels, shut down computers, and zapped the overhead lights. As a result of the strike, malfunctioning equipment reportedly caused brewers to nearly dump 400 barrels of new beer into old caldrons.
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
- 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 GYX wrote it up.
Lightning struck a metal-roofed brewery at the Pease International Tradeport causing a surge of electricity that fried the brewery's control panels, shut down computers, and zapped the overhead lights. As a result of the strike, malfunctioning equipment reportedly caused brewers to nearly dump 400 barrels of new beer into old caldrons. This was the second lightning strike of the year for the brewery.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Heat in Oklahoma, August 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Tornadoes and Hail in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, August 17, 1999
- Damaging Winds in New York, August 17, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 17, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 17, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Colorado, August 17, 1999
More
Every storm in New Hampshire in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in New Hampshire, August 1999
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: 5714612.