Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 4, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 4, 2001
Start: 2001-07-04T22:00
End: 2001-07-04T22:00
Location: New Jersey

July 4, 2001 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck firework barges just east of Atlantic City. They caught fire, but no serious injuries were reported.

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.

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Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
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.

Lightning struck firework barges just east of Atlantic City. They caught fire, but no serious injuries were reported.

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 4, 12:50 PM EST, 9 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 12:50 PM EST, 9 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
150 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

DISC: UPPER LVL CYCLONIC FLOW WILL KEEP TEMPS BEARABLE FOR NEXT
COUPLE OF DAYS BUT OCNLY BRING S/W S MOVING OVER THE REGION.
FIRST ARRIVES ON THE SCENE THIS EVENING. EARLIER SHOWERS/TSTMS
OFFSHORE XCPT SOME LINGERING HVY SHWRS OVER OCEAN/BURLINGTON
COS NJ AND W/B MOVING OFFSHORE SHRTLY. CLDS THINNING OUT OVER
CHESAPEAKE REGION INTO CENTRAL PA. CLD MOTION/UPPER LVL WINDS BRING
SOME SUN TO PHL AREA AROUND 200 PM.

QUESTION OF HOW UNSTABLE ATMOS BECOMES IN ADVANCE OF DEVELOPING
LEE SIDE TROUGHING AND UPPER LVL S/W. REGARDLESS OF INTENSITY...
SHOWERS WITH PSBLY TSHWRS W/B DEVELOPING LATER THIS AFTERNOON
AND MAKING WAY TO ERN AREAS DURING THE PRIME PYROTECHNIC
WINDOW SO W/B ISSUING STATEMENTS IF NECESSARY WITH A TIMING LINE
IF SVR TSTMS/HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPS.

A CONCERN THIS EVENING WILL ALSO BE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN.
K VALUES CLOSE TO 40 WITH PWS IN EXCESS OF 2 SOME AREAS. GIVEN
STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE THINK THAT A 4 RAIN IN ISOLATED AREAS
CERTAINLY NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. WILL INCLUDE THAT LIKELYHOOD
IN FOLLOWUP STATEMENT WHEN ZONES ARE READY.

THU BEGINS SUNNY WITH SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS DEVELOPING IN THE
SRN END OF CFA DURING THE AFTERNOON. ONLY PUTTING 30/40 POP AT
BEST.

ENJOY THE 4TH...

.PHI...NONE.

SEE YA

EBERWINE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 4, 8:40 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
940 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0825 PM    TRAPPE                    MD   .88 INCH HAIL
07/04/01   TALBOT

JAQ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Atlantic

When: July 4, 10:00 PM EST
Where: Atlantic County, Atlantic City
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (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, 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: 5260214.