New Jersey, 2001

Lightning Strike in New Jersey, May 27, 2001

May 27, 2001 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck and ignited a house fire in Hazlet. The elderly couple who owned the house were rescued, but suffered smoke inhalation.

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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  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • 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 and ignited a house fire in Hazlet. The elderly couple who owned the house were rescued, but suffered smoke inhalation.

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 May 27, 2:54 PM EST, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 2:54 PM EST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
354 PM EDT SUN MAY 27 2001

JUST ABOUT AS ADVERTISED...MARINE LAYER LEFT MOST OF AREA WITH BATCH
OF RN THAT COVERED AREA YDA INTO ERLY TDA. H5 CLSD LO IS MOVG TWD
THE NE AND WL MOV SLOWLY ACRS NY STA. MDLS INDICATE THAT THIS
FEATURE WL WEAKEN AS IT DOES SO.

MEANWHILE...S/W TROF THAT BROUGHT SOME SVR WX TO MDWEST YDA IS NOW
IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS.  S/S HELPED TEMPS TO WARM THIS AFTN MOST
AREAS AND PREVIOUS RN HAS HELPED ADD DWPTS TO AREA THUS MAKING AREA
PRIME FOR TRW DVLPMNT AND SVR TRW STILL A GD PSBLTY.

THIS FEATURE MOVS ON TNGT AND A BREAK SETS IN AS UP LO MOVS ACRS NY
STA ON MON. MDLS HINT THAT ALL MSTR SWEPT OUT AND THUS WUD XPCT
NOTHING ON THE HOLIDAY. HOWEVER...WL CONT A CHC FOR LT DAY AND ERLY
NGT TIME RW/TRW. MON NGT.  AFTER THAT MDLS SUGGEST THAT MAIN H5 UP
LO PULLS INTO CANADA WITH A WEAKER EXTENSION TRYING TO DROP DOWN TWD
NY STA.  HAVE OPTED TO LEAVE PRECIP OUT OF FCST TUE ALL ZNS...THO
THIS SYS CUD TRIGGER SOMETHING UP ACRS NRN ZNS.  AFTER THAT FAIR WX
THRU MIDWK UNTIL NXT SYS ARND FRI BRNGS CHC PRECIP.

ON THE MARINE...NOTHING UP.

WWA 297 AND 298 CONT FOR CWA--EXPIRATION TIME 7PM.

.PHI...NONE.

JWH

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Monmouth

When
May 27, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Monmouth County, Hazlet
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (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 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, May 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: 5244842.