Lightning, Cumberland
- When
- June 30, 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Cumberland County, Portland
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.806, -70.330 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Maine, June 30, 2001
A baggage handler who was outside the terminal at the Portland International Jetport was injured when lightning struck somewhere near the building or taxi-way. After the strike, the man suffered from shortness of breath and tingling in his arms.
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.
A baggage handler who was outside the terminal at the Portland International Jetport was injured when lightning struck somewhere near the building or taxi-way. After the strike, the man suffered from shortness of breath and tingling in his arms. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released.
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 Jun 30, 1:40 PM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 1:40 PM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 240 PM EDT SAT JUN 30 2001 SYNOPSIS...A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD EAST INTO THE REGION MONDAY. PUBLIC...PROBLEM OF THE DAY IS THE STRONG COLD FRONT PROGGED TO SWEEP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MODELS ARE SIMIAR IN DEVELOPING A SHARP SURFACE FRONT COUPLED WITH GOOD UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS FOR LATER SUNDAY. THIS COMBINATION WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. NGM MOS POPS LOOK TOO LOW FOR THIS EVENT...BUT THE THUNDERSTORM PROBS ACTUALLY REFLECT EXPECTED WEATHER QUITE WELL. AVN MOS POPS PREFERRED TO NGM. IN THE SHORTER TERM...EXPECT SCATTERED AMS TYPE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER POPS IN THE NORTH AND LOWER POPS SOUTH. OTHWERWISE PTCLDY AND RELATIVELY WARM OVERNIGHT. SUNDAY SHOULD START OFF PTSUNNY AND HAZY...WITH TEMPERATURES CLIMBING TO NEAR 90 IN SOUTHERN NH AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST ME AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL USHER IN A ROUND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FOLLOWED BY PARTIAL CLEARING LATER SUNDAY NIGHT. PARTLY SUNNY AND MUCH COOLER MONDAY. IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS INDEPENDENCE DAY AND THURSDAY...OTHERWISE PARTLY CLOUDY. PWMWRKZFP AVAILABLE FOR COORDINATION. MARINE...STABLE TEMPERATURE PROFILE WITH WARM AIR TEMPERATURES OVER COOLER WATER TEMPS. SW WINDS HAVING DIFFICULTY MIXING DOWN SO WILL DISCONTINUE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR NOW. WINDS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO SCA CRITIERA LATE SUNDAY...AND CONTINUE WITH WINDS TO NEAR 30 KTS BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. PWMWRKCWF AVAILABLE FOR COORDINATION. FCSTID = 7 .GYX... ME...NONE. NH...NONE. WHEELEHR
The radar
The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:01 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
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, June 30, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New York, June 30, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, June 30, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, June 30, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Connecticut, June 30, 2001
- Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in New York, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, June 30, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, June 30, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, June 30, 2001
- Wildfire in California, June 30, 2001
More
Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, June 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: 5256345.