Lightning, Middlesex
- When
- July 7, 11:10 PM EST
- Where
- Middlesex County, East Brunswick
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 7, 2001
Lightning struck a storage barn in East Brunswick. The ensuing blaze destroyed the building.
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
- 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.
Lightning struck a storage barn in East Brunswick. The ensuing blaze destroyed the building. The barn contained apple crates. No 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 7, 8:41 PM EST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 8:41 PM EST, 2 hours 29 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 941 PM EDT SAT JUL 7 2001 WEAKENING SHOWERS WITH MINOR SHORT WAVE STILL HOLDING TOGETHER ENOUGH TO WARRANT AN UPDATE FOR THE NRN THREE ZONES. QUICK UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT. TEMP FCST LOOKS GOOD. NOTHING ON THE MARINE. .PHI...NONE. MPD
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:07 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
- Heat in Missouri, July 7 to 10, 2001
- Heat in Missouri, July 7 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Texas, July 7, 2001
- Flash Flood in California, July 7, 2001
- Flash Flood in California, July 7, 2001
- Flash Flood in California, July 7, 2001
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 7, 2001
- Flooding and Hail in Indiana, July 7, 2001
- Flash Flood in California, July 7, 2001
- Heat in Kentucky, July 7 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, July 7 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, July 7 to 10, 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: 5260298.