Name: Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 18, 2001
Start: 2001-07-18T05:00
End: 2001-07-18T05:00
Location: New Jersey

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: $25,000
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 PHI wrote it up.

A lightning strike ignited a fire in adjacent homes in the Money Island section of Dover Township. The fire damaged the contents of one home, while the fire was confined to the attic and roof of the second home. Frequent lightning caused power outages to about 1,600 homes and businesses in Ocean County.

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 18, 2:04 AM EST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 2:04 AM EST, 2 hours 56 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
304 AM EDT WED JUL 18 2001

CONVTN THAT FIRED YDA ALG BACKDOOR FNT HAS SHIFTED TO SRN PTNS OF
THE CWA ERY THIS MRNG. WL KEEP A CHC OF RW/TRW NRN ZONES TIL
MIDDAY/ERY AFTN AS PER MODEL DRYING...AND LIKELY CNTRL ZONES AS
THERE IS STILL A GOOD BIT OF INSTABY WHICH CUD BE REALIZED BY S/WVS
ROTATING THRU THE UPPER FLOW. THIS IS A JUST BIT LWR THAN
FWC/MAV/FAN POPS WHICH MAY BE A BIT OVERDONE. FOR SRN ZONES...SRN NJ
AND DELMARVA...WL GO WITH MODEL CAT POPS AS THIS IS INVOF SFC BNDRY.
WHERE POPS ARE LIKELY OR HIR...WL MENTION PSBLTY OF HVY DOWNPOURS
WITH HI PWATS AND SLUGGISH UPPER FLOW. THE ABOVE THINKING FITS
ACCEPTABLY WELL WITH NCEP/S 24 HR QPF FCST. WL ALSO KEEP A CHC
RW/TRW THESE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED ZONES TO ACCOUNT FOR ANY DIURNAL
ACTIVITY. THEN...WL LOWER POPS FOR THU AFTN/THU NITE CLOSER TO MODEL
GUIDANCE AS UPPER LO CLOSES OFF EAST OF US AND TIMING MAY BE RIGHT
FOR ANOTHER LOBE TO SWING THROUGH THE REGION. THUS WL HAVE A CHC
RW/TRW SRN TWO-THIRDS OF CWA...20 POP OR LESS NRN THIRD.

WITH LOTS OF LO LVL MSTR ARND...SPCLY WHERE IT RAINED EXTRM E
PA/CNTRL NJ...WL MENTION PTCHY FOG ERY THIS MRNG.

TEMPS...NOT MUCH TO QUIBBLE ABOUT SO MODEL TEMPS ARE ACCEPTED. WITH
LTL SUN AND ONSHORE FLOW N OF THE BOUNDARY...MAX TEMPS SHUD BE BLO
NORMAL TDA.

ON MARINE...WL KEEP A HEADLINE THAT SCA MAY BE NEEDED THU ON THE
OCEAN AND LWR BAY.

.PHI...NONE.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Ocean

When: July 18, 5:00 AM EST
Where: Ocean County, Toms River
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (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 New Jersey in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5260314.