Lightning, Berks
- When
- August 13, 10:05 PM EST to 10:30 PM EST
- Where
- Berks County, 1 mi S of Bally
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, August 13, 1999
Frequent lightning from thunderstorms started a field and house fire in separate instances just south of Bally in Washington Township. The combination of the drought, lightning strike and strong northwest winds accompanying a gust front quickly engulfed two acres of a field before firefighters could bring it under control.
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 PHI wrote it up.
Frequent lightning from thunderstorms started a field and house fire in separate instances just south of Bally in Washington Township. The combination of the drought, lightning strike and strong northwest winds accompanying a gust front quickly engulfed two acres of a field before firefighters could bring it under control. Separately lightning struck the top of a home and traveled through the attic crawl space and garage. Those spaces filled with smoke, but damage was confined to those areas before the fire could spread. No serious injuries were reported.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:06 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
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 13, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 13, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, August 13, 1999
- Tornadoes in New Hampshire, August 13, 1999
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 13 to 14, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, August 13 to 14, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, August 13, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 13 to 24, 1999
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Ohio, August 13, 1999
- Flood and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 13, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, August 13, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Vermont, August 13, 1999
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5717856.