Name: Lightning Strike in Massachusetts, April 8, 2001
Start: 2001-04-08T05:30
End: 2001-04-08T05:30
Location: Massachusetts

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $125,000
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.

A house was struck by lightning during an early morning thunderstorm, and burned to the ground. Nothing was salvaged from the house, but a deep snow pack around the remote home helped to contain the fire to the house, according to local fire officials.

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 Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 8, 2:08 AM EST, 3 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 8, 2:08 AM EST, 3 hours 22 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
308 AM EDT SUN APR 8 2001

STG WAA ALF HAS MOVD INTO SNE FM WNW.  REMAINS OF THE AREA OF
TSTMS/INSTBY IS NOW MOVG ACRS THE FCST AREA.  THUNDER RPTD IN
SEVERAL LOCATIONS.  APPRS THAT SOME LCLY HVY RAIN BASED ON RADAR
BUT THIS IS MOVG FAIRLY RPDLY EWD AND SO WL NOT RESULT IN LARGE PCPN
TOTALS.  COLD AIR CONTS AT LOW LVLS.  ALTHOUGH SFC TEMPS ABV FRZG
THERE IS A SGFNTLY DEEP LYR OF COLD AIR ABV SFC.  DEW PTS NR GND
ALSO LOW.  THIS IS RESULTING IN SLEET IN PLACES AND MAY ALSO RESULT
IN MXD SNW, SPCLY HIR TRRN FM WRN AND CNTRL MA TO SW NH.

THE OMEGA MAX WITH THIS WL BE OFSHR BY 12Z ACCORDING TO AVN AND ETA
SO MOST SGFNT PCPN WL BE OVER WITH BY SNRS.  BUT WARM AIR IS NOT
LKLY TO RCH SFC ACRS THE FCST AREA TDA WITH WARM FNT STAYING W ACRS
NY.  WAA WL CONT ALTHOUGH WL NOT BE AS STG AS IT HAS BEEN OVRNGT.
THIS WL RESULT IN SOME LGT RAIN IN PLACES THRU THIS AFTN.

FNT WL MOV PAST TNGT THEN EXPC CLRG MON AS RDG BLDS ACRS SNE.  THE
COMBINATION OF THE WARMER AMS PLUS SUN WL RESULT IN SGFNTLY WARMER
TEMPS ON MON PRBLY UP 15 TO 20 DEG ABV TDA.  EXPC THIS TO BE
TEMPORARY.  INSPITE OF BROAD UPR RDG TO W FLO IS RELATIVELY FLAT
ACRS IT WITH SEVERAL EMBDD MINOR S/WVS.  THE NEXT OF THESE WL APCH
FM W TUE AND THE ASSOCD SFC LOW WL RCH THE FA TUE NGT.  SO APPRS
CHC FOR MORE RAIN AT THAT TIME.

.BOX...FLOOD WRNG FOR CONCORD RVR IN ERN MA.
       ADVY FOR AREAS OF FRZG RAIN WRN AND CNTRL MA TO SW NH TIL
       10 AM.
       SCA FOR SEAS OUTER CSTL WATERS.
DMH

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Hampshire

When: April 8, 5:30 AM EST
Where: Hampshire County, Chesterfield
Property damage: $125,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.340, -72.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Massachusetts, April 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: 5237979.