Lightning Strikes in New Jersey, August 27, 2001

Name: Lightning Strikes in New Jersey, August 27, 2001
Start: 2001-08-27T15:15
End: 2001-08-27T15:30
Location: New Jersey

August 27, 2001 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Lightning strikes set a couple of poles and transformers on fire in Hamilton Township. S.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Lightning strikes set a couple of poles and transformers on fire in Hamilton Township. U.S. Route 130 was closed because of downed wires. Another lightning strike punctured a hole in the roof of a Washington Township home. About 4,000 homes and businesses lost power in Mercer and Burlington County that afternoon.

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 Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 27, 2:17 PM EST, 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 2:17 PM EST, 58 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
317 PM EDT MON AUG 27 2001

SHWRS/TSTMS POPPING UP ALNG FNTL BNDRY MOVG THRU ERN PA. CHC FOR
PRECIP TO LINGER THRU EVE HRS THEN SHUD DIE DOWN WITH SUNSET.  FNT
WL MOV JUST S OF AREA OR NR SRN AREAS OF FA AND PROBABLY COME TO A
STOP...WAITING ON NXT S/W AND CD FNT TO COME ACRS AREA LT TUE AND
ERLY TUE NGT.  FNT APPRS TO BE JUST A WEE BIT SLOWER...SO CLDS MAY
NOT REALLY CLR OUT OF XTRM SRN FA UNTIL ERLY WED...BUT THEN DRIER
AIR MOVS IN FOR ENTIRE WED ON WED AND THU. NXT FEATURE TO AFFECT
AREA WITH CHC PRECIP THU NGT AND FRI...THEN LOOKS LIKE DRY BUT
SOMEWHAT COOL WX FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

TRANQUIL ON THE MARINE.

FCSTID = 14
MPO   57  76  53  76 /  10  30  10   0
ABE   61  85  60  80 /  30  30  10   0
RDG   63  86  61  82 /  20  30  10   0
PHL   66  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
12N   59  80  55  72 /  30  30  10   0
SMQ   65  87  64  83 /  30  30  10  10
TTN   66  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
MIV   67  87  65  83 /  30  30  30  10
ACY   67  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
ILG   66  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
DOV   69  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
GED   69  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10
ESN   69  87  66  83 /  30  30  30  10

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

JWH

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Mercer

When: August 27, 3:15 PM EST
Where: Mercer County, Hamilton Square
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Mercer

When: August 27, 3:30 PM EST
Where: Mercer County, Windsor
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (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

Every storm in New Jersey in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, August 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: 5268794, 5268795.