Lightning, Mercer
- When
- July 1, 2:30 PM EST
- Where
- Mercer County, Princeton
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 1, 2001
Two twenty-two year old women were struck and injured by lightning when they took shelter under a tree in front of Laughlin Hall on the campus of Princeton University. Lightning apparently struck the tree and then them.
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
- 2
- 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.
Two twenty-two year old women were struck and injured by lightning when they took shelter under a tree in front of Laughlin Hall on the campus of Princeton University. Lightning apparently struck the tree and then them. One woman was struck in the left shoulder and critically (burned) injured. The other woman was treated and released from a local hospital.
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 Jul 1, 1:54 PM EST, 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 1:54 PM EST, 36 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 254 PM EDT SUN JUL 1 2001 ANOTHER SVR TSTM WATCH WILL BE ISSUED VERY SHORTLY...SO BRIEFLY INSOFAR AS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ETA AND AVN WE WILL GO WITH THE AVN. IT IS A BIT QUICKER WITH THE FRONT AND SO FAR THAT HAS BEEN VERIFYING. WE HAVE LKLY POPS S AND A CHC IN A BUFFER ZONE THRU PHL FOR THIS EVENING...THEN CLEARING AND COOLER AND DRY THROUGH TUE. TEMPS A BLEND OF CONTINUITY...GUIDANCE AND LOCAL SCHEMES. DID RADIATE US OUT A BIT ON MON NIGHT. SCA GOING UP THIS PACKAGE. HEAT ADVISORY WILL EXPIRE AT THE END OF THE AFTN PD...AND CLEARLY WILL NOT REISSUE. .PHI...SCA COAST AND DE BAY. MPD
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 11:13 AM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes before
DEZ001-NJZ001-007>010-015>019-PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-012200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 1213 PM EDT SUN JUL 1 2001 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: IN PENNSYLVANIA BERKS...BUCKS...CARBON...CHESTER...DELAWARE...LEHIGH...MONROE... MONTGOMERY...NORTHAMPTON...PHILADELPHIA. IN NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON...CAMDEN...GLOUCESTER...HUNTERDON...MERCER...MORRIS... SALEM...SOMERSET...SUSSEX...WARREN. IN DELAWARE NEW CASTLE. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH CONTAIN DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL 3/4 INCH OR GREATER IN DIAMETER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORMS. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED. MPD
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 2:25 PM EST, 5 minutes before
DEZ001-NJZ001-007>010-012>019-PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-012200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 325 PM EDT SUN JUL 1 2001 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: IN NEW JERSEY MIDDLESEX AND MONMOUTH. ALSO...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: IN PENNSYLVANIA BERKS...BUCKS...CARBON...CHESTER...DELAWARE...LEHIGH...MONROE... MONTGOMERY...NORTHAMPTON...PHILADELPHIA. IN NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON...CAMDEN...GLOUCESTER...HUNTERDON...MERCER...MORRIS... SALEM...SOMERSET...SUSSEX...WARREN. IN DELAWARE NEW CASTLE. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS MULTIPLE LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH AND HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. EVEN IF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH YOUR AREA...STAY ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF MORE SEVERE WEATHER. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH CONTAIN DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL 3/4 INCH OR GREATER IN DIAMETER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORMS. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED. AMC
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 2:25 PM EST, 5 minutes before
DEZ001-NJZ001-007>010-012>019-PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-012200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 325 PM EDT SUN JUL 1 2001 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: IN PENNSYLVANIA BERKS...BUCKS...CHESTER...DELAWARE...LEHIGH...MONTGOMERY... NORTHAMPTON...PHILADELPHIA. IN NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC INCLUDING THE COAST...BURLINGTON...CAMDEN...CAPE MAY INCLUDING THE COAST...CUMBERLAND...GLOUCESTER...HUNTERDON... MERCER...MIDDLESEX...MONMOUTH INCLUDING THE COAST...MORRIS... OCEAN INCLUDING THE COAST...SALEM...SOMERSET...WARREN. IN DELAWARE KENT...NEW CASTLE...SUSSEX. IN MARYLAND CAROLINE...KENT...QUEEN ANNE/S...TALBOT. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS MULTIPLE LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH AND HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. EVEN IF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH YOUR AREA...STAY ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF MORE SEVERE WEATHER. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH CONTAIN DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL 3/4 INCH OR GREATER IN DIAMETER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORMS. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED. AMC/MPD CORRECTED COUNTIES AND EXPIRATION TIME.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:31 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
- Drought in Michigan, July 1 to 31, 2001
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 1, 2001
- Rip Current in Michigan, July 1, 2001
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Maryland, July 1, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 1, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Guam, July 1 to 3, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, July 1, 2001
- Wildfire in Alaska, July 1 to 7, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, July 1, 2001
- Tornado in Florida, July 1, 2001
- Flood in Minnesota, July 1 to 31, 2001
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in West Virginia, July 1, 2001
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, 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: 5260183.