Lightning, Hillsborough
- When
- July 2, 2:41 PM EST
- Where
- Hillsborough County, Nashua
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 42.915, -71.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, July 2, 1999
Lightning struck the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center in Nashua, briefly knocking out the primary radar and radio communications systems. Controllers were forced to rely on a backup system for nearly three hours, which caused widespread delays during the holiday weekend.
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 BOX wrote it up.
Lightning struck the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center in Nashua, briefly knocking out the primary radar and radio communications systems. Controllers were forced to rely on a backup system for nearly three hours, which caused widespread delays during the holiday weekend. During that time, all jet aircraft were restricted from taking off at airports throughout New England, including Logan International Airport in Boston. The effects of the outage and slower backup system idled planes throughout the country that were headed for destinations in New England. Flights inbound from Europe were rerouted around the affected airspace.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:38 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 and Flash Flooding in Iowa, July 2 to 3, 1999
- Flash Flood in Iowa, July 2, 1999
- Tornado in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
- Flooding in Iowa, July 2 to 7, 1999
- Hail in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
- Hail in South Dakota, July 2, 1999
- Flash Flood in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
- Hail in Iowa, July 2, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, July 2, 1999
- Hail in Nebraska, July 2, 1999
More
Every storm in New Hampshire in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in New Hampshire, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5710555.