Lightning, Ocean
- When
- June 30, 12:20 PM EST
- Where
- Ocean County, Island Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New Jersey, June 30, 2001
A 22-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning while tossing a football with his friend on the beach at Island Beach State Park in section A-15. His friend (23-year-old man) was also injured by the same bolt, but suffered only minor burns.
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
- 1
- Injuries
- 1
- 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.
A 22-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning while tossing a football with his friend on the beach at Island Beach State Park in section A-15. His friend (23-year-old man) was also injured by the same bolt, but suffered only minor burns. The thunderstorm (and lightning bolt) that killed the man developed east of the beach over the nearby Atlantic. The sun was shining on the beach when he was struck and killed.
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 Jun 30, 9:58 AM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 9:58 AM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1058 AM EDT SAT JUN 30 2001
GIVEN SOUNDINGS...PRESENT TEMPS...DEWPOINTS AND LOCAL SCHEMES...
THINK THE SRN FA AWAY FROM THE COAST WILL GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO A 105
HEAT INDEX TO PUT UP AN ADVISORY. GIVEN THE SOUNDINGS AND POSSIBLE
OLD BOUNDARIES PUT DOWN BY CONVECTION YESTERDAY...AND THE
CONVERGENCE AT H8 STILL SUPPORTING ACTIVITY OVER CENTRAL PA...THE
POPS THIS AFTERNOON ARE WORTH KEEPING. NO OTHER CHANGES. PREV
DISCUSSION BELOW.
MPD
*****************************************************************
NEW PROGS SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS RUN THRU SHORT TERM...ALTHOUGH CDFNT
MAY BE A BIT FASTER LATE SUN AND HAVE A BIT COOLER AMS BHND IT FOR
MON.
KEEPING URBAN HEAT WRNG FOR PHL METRO AREA TDA AND SUN...THOUGH LOOKS
MRGL SUN. HWVR...IT WL BE WRM AND MUGGY TNGT AND DEWPTS MAY NOT DROP
OFF AS ERY AS ADVERTISED SUN. HEADLINING RMNDR OF INLAND SRN ZONES
FOR HEAT INDEX NR 100 TDA AND SUN.
MSTLY MINIMAL POPS THIS AFTN AND EVE...A BIT HIGHER WITH FNT SUN BUT
STILL CHC CTGY FOR NOW. AGREE WITH DAY2 CNVTV DISCUSSION...THAT IT
COULD GET DICEY LATE IN THE DAY SUN...SPCLY IF FNT PLOWS THRU WO ANY
AMS DRYING BFR IT.
NOTHING ON MARINE...ALTHOUGH WNDS WL INCR A BIT SUN AND COULD REACH
SML CRAFT POST-FROPA SUN NGT INTO MON.
ZONES WIBIS BY 415 AM WITH HEAT STATEMENT BY 530 AM.
.PHI...URBAN HEAT WRNG THIS AFTN THRU SUN PA67-71 NJ15/17-19 DE1
HEAT ADVISORY THIS AFTN NJ16/21/22 MD12/15/19/20 DE2/3
KRAUSThe radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:20 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Ocean | 2001-06-30 | 22 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
- Lightning Strike in New York, June 30, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, June 30, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, June 30, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Connecticut, June 30, 2001
- Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in New York, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, June 30, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, June 30, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, June 30, 2001
- Wildfire in California, June 30, 2001
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maryland, June 30, 2001
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, June 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: 5253842.