Lightning, Essex
- When
- June 30, 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, 4 mi S of Lake Placid
- Injuries
- 13 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 44.117, -73.773 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in New York, June 30, 2001
A weak trough or convergence line moved across northern New York during the afternoon of June 30th. Thunderstorms preceded and accompanied this trough.
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
- 13
- 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 BTV wrote it up.
A weak trough or convergence line moved across northern New York during the afternoon of June 30th. Thunderstorms preceded and accompanied this trough. Around 1 PM EDT (Noon EST) lightning struck Algonquin Peak which is about 4 miles south of Lake Placid. Two hikers were knocked unconscious while 11 others received minor burns.
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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 30, 10:02 AM EST, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 10:02 AM EST, 1 hour 58 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 1102 AM EDT SAT JUN 30 2001 WL BE UPDATING FCST TO BETTER REFLECT CURRENT CONDITIONS. BAND OF SHWRS HAS DVLPD IN ST LWR VLY DURING PAST COUPLE OF HRS. THESE SHWRS PRODUCING SOME BRFLY HVY RAIN...BUT NO LTG REPORTED AS OF YET. WL RAISE POPS A BIT FOR NRN ZONES AND TAKE OUT ANY MENTION OF TIMING. THREAT OF SVR TDY LOOKS MINIMAL DUE LACK OF MID LVL COOLING AND ANY SGFNT FORCING...ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO SUNDAY. SO WL CONTINUE PREVIOUS THINKING AND LEAVE OUT ANY ENHANCED WORDING FOR TDY. NO OTHER CHNGS TO FCST ATTM. .BTV...NONE. RJS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, 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 York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, 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: 5256064.