Lightning, Franklin
- When
- July 10, 2:00 PM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Franklin County, Wilton
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 44.974, -70.444 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Maine, July 10, 2001
Lightning struck a 75-ft brick industrial chimney in the town of Wilton, damaging the chimney and also electronic equipment inside the building. The strike blasted a 2x2 ft hole in the chimney near the top, and also cracked the chimney.
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 GYX wrote it up.
Lightning struck a 75-ft brick industrial chimney in the town of Wilton, damaging the chimney and also electronic equipment inside the building. The strike blasted a 2x2 ft hole in the chimney near the top, and also cracked the chimney. One person who was working on computer equipment at the time was jolted by the strike and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Gray, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 10, 12:56 PM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 12:56 PM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 156 PM EDT TUE JUL 10 2001 UPPER LOW FROM HUDSON BAY TO MOVE SE ALG WITH SERIES OF SHT WVS OVR NEXT FEW DAYS. LOOKS LIKE IT MAY FINALLY MOVE E AND BE OUT OF THE WX PICTURE FOR THE WKEND. WILL FOLLOW TREND OF PREV FCST KEEPING CHCY PCPN IN FCST FOR AFTN/EVNG PDS INTO THU AND FOR NRN/MTNS SCTNS ON FRI AS WELL. SVR TSTM WATCH TIL 7PM FOR MUCH OF AREA SO WILL HAVE TSTMS IN ZNS FOR FIRST HALF OF TNGT. THEN FOG WILL LIKELY FORM IN INTERIOR PTNS AND SEA FOG KEEPING ITS PRESENCE KNOWN ALG CST. THEN PROCESS STARTS OVR AGAIN TMRW. MARINE...NO CHGS. .GYX... ME...NONE. NH...NONE. JFR }
The radar
The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:59 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
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, July 10, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Colorado, July 10, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, July 10, 2001
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Wyoming, July 10, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in West Virginia, July 10 to 11, 2001
- Flash Flood in Wyoming, July 10, 2001
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 10 to 11, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, July 10 to 11, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, July 10, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 10, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 10, 2001
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Pennsylvania, July 10, 2001
More
Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, July 2001
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: 5267633.