Lightning Strike in Delaware, April 16, 2002

Name: Lightning Strike in Delaware, April 16, 2002
Start: 2002-04-16T06:45
End: 2002-04-16T06:45
Location: Delaware

April 16, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck a convenience store on Delaware State Route 1 in Dewey Beach. The strike damaged the store's computers and prevented them form pumping any gas.

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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Wind
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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 a convenience store on Delaware State Route 1 in Dewey Beach. The strike damaged the store's computers and prevented them form pumping any gas. 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 Apr 16, 4:50 AM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 4:50 AM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
550 AM EDT TUE APR 16 2002

HAVE ADDED A CHANCE OF MORNING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
CECIL, NEW CASTLE, SALEM, AND KENT MD AS 88D INDICATES.  HAVE ALSO
UPDATED CWF TO INCLUDE MENTION OF MORNING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ALONG THE COAST AND BAY.

JJM

PREVIOUS AFD BELOW:

#############################################################

WEAK IMPULSE RUNNING DOWN ERN SIDE OF BUILDING H5 RIDGE AND THE
INSTABILITY ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER HAVE KEPT SHRA...WITH EVEN AN
OCNL STROKE OF LIGHTNING...GOING EARLY THIS AM. THIS IMPULSE PROGGED
TO MOVE OFF THE DELMARVA THIS AM AND THEN GET SQUASHED BY THE RIDGE.
WE HAVE PUT IN A CHC OF EARLY AM CONVECTION OVER THE FAR SRN ZONES.

AFTER THAT...THE BUILDING RIDGE SHOULD KEEP US DRY AND QUITE WARM
INTO TMRW. THEN ANOTHER IMPULSE CLIMBS THE WRN SIDE OF THE RIDGE AND
STARTS TO KNOCK IT DOWN SOME. ASSOCIATED SFC FEATURE IS COLD FRONT
THAT IS PROGGED TO APPROACH THE FA BY LATE WED...THEN DROP INTO FA
WED NIGHT. MODEL SOUNDINGS HAVE THAT INVERTED V LOOK BY WED AFTN...
WITH ONLY A WEAK SUBSIDENCE CAP ALOFT. PLENTY OF INSTABILITY AROUND
WITH THE VERY WARM LOW LEVEL TEMPS. WIND FIELD IS NOT IMPRESSIVE...
UNLESS ONE STARTS TO PUT THE SOUNDINGS TOGETHER WITH UNIDIRECTIONAL
FLOW. FOR NOW...WE HAVE PUT IN A CHC OF CONVECTION FOR LATE WED AFTN
INTO WED NIGHT.

TEMP FCST IS BASED ON LOCAL SCHEME AND HIGHER OF THE STAT GUIDANCE...
WHICH HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN THE COOLER GUIDANCE RECENTLY. H8 TEMPS
SUPPORT THIS...GIVEN WE SHOULD BE PRETTY CLOSE TO DRY ADIABATIC
THROUGH H8 BOTH TODAY AND WED.

MARINE REMAINS RELATIVELY QUIET.

FCSTID = 45
MPO   80  57  82  57 /  10  10  30  30
ABE   86  60  88  59 /  10  10  30  30
RDG   86  60  88  59 /  10  10  30  30
PHL   88  65  90  63 /  10  10  30  30
12N   86  58  88  57 /  10  10  30  30
SMQ   87  58  89  60 /  10  10  30  30
TTN   87  62  89  60 /  10  10  30  30
MIV   87  59  89  62 /  10  10  30  30
ACY   73  62  76  63 /  10  10  30  30
ILG   87  63  89  62 /  10  10  30  30
DOV   87  64  89  64 /  30  10  30  30
GED   88  64  90  64 /  30  10  30  30
ESN   88  64  90  64 /  30  10  30  30

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

NYY

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, Sussex

When: April 16, 6:45 AM EST
Where: Sussex County, Dewey Beach
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (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 Delaware in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Delaware, April 2002

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: 5292636.