Lightning, New Castle
- When
- April 9, 6:30 AM EST
- Where
- New Castle County, Odessa
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Delaware, April 9, 2002
Lightning started a fire in a barn in Odessa. When firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring from the roof.
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
- $50,000
- 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 started a fire in a barn in Odessa. When firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring from the roof. Damage was estimated at $50,000, but 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 Apr 9, 2:30 AM EST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 9, 2:30 AM EST, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 330 AM EDT TUE APR 9 2002 NO BIG CHGS IN FCST RUNS WITH CFP EXPECTED TO MOVE THRU CWA BTWN ABT 03Z AND 08Z. AFT THAT HI PRES BUILDS IN FROM THE N AND WILL ANCHOR ITSELF NEAR OUR CWA FOR QUITE A WHL. ITS ACTUAL ORIENTATION ALG THE ERN SEABOARD WILL TELL THE TALE ABT HOW MUCH SC WE GET (IF ANY) FROM THE ONSHR FLOW LTR THIS WEEK. UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS NO SGFCNT PCPN EXPECTED THRU NEXT MON AND WITH THE DAYS OF RESERVOIR/GROUND WATER RECHARGING DWINDLING DOWN TO A PRECIOUS FEW B4 THE VEGETATION/EVAPORATION TAKE OVR...ITS NOT BODING WELL FOR THE DROUGHT. ONE DOES NOT END DROUGHT CONDS WITH CFP. THIS SYNOPTIC SITU SIMILAR TO CFP THAT OCRD ON 4/3. THAT DAY THE MDLS HAVE BEEN OVERFCSTG THE CLD CVR AND UNDERDOING THE MAX TEMPS. FOR THIS REASON WE WILL BE BOOSTING MAX TEMPS ABV CUR GUID (SW FLOW OFF RIVER MIGHT HAVE A LCL AFFECT AT PHL INTL ITSELF) ESP ACRS THE SERN PART OF OUR CWA. WHL THERE IS GOOD THETA E ADVT THIS MRNG...DEEPEST MSTR RMNS NW OF OUR CWA. WE WILL THUS SCALE BACK TIMING OF PCPN AND TOTALLY REMOVE IT FROM OUR SERN AND CSTL ZONES FOR TDY. WE WILL ALSO BE ADDING THE MNTN OF THUNDER. THE FCSTD WRMR TEMPS GENERATE ENUF S/B CAPE AND IS TRENDING A BIT MORE UNSTABLE THAN THE 12Z RUN ENUF SO TO INCLUDE THE CHC. LIKE 4/3 WIND FIELD ALF IS QUITE STG AND CWA WILL BE IN ENTR RGN OF H2.5 JET. LLVL WIND FIELD IS SO FAVORABLE THAT HEL VALUES ARE FCSTD TO RISE INTO THE 300S IN NJ. FORTUNATELY S/B CAPES ARE PRETTY MEAGER AND ENTIRE COLUMN OF ATMOS IS SUPPOSE TO GET PRETTY MOIST AS THE FNT APCHS. THUS THETA E DEP ARE NOT FAVORABLE FOR STG DOWNDRAFTS AND H8-H5 LAPSE RATES OF ABT 6C ARE ONLY IN THE SO-CALLED SO-SO RANGE. SINCE THERE IS AS MUCH A QUES ABT WHETHER THUNDER WILL OCR VS NOT...WE WILL NOT ADD ANY ENHANCED WORDING. ITS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE ERLY SPRING DAYS WHERE THE WIND FIELD IS IMPRESSIVE FOR STG THUNDER...BUT INSTAB IS LIMITED. WE WILL CONT LIKELIHOOD OF PCPN (AND THUNDER) ACRS OUR CWA FOR TNGT. SLO EWD PROG OF H2.5 JET...THETA E RDG AND SHRT WV YET TO EXIT CWA BY WED MRNG WILL MAKE US LINGER THE CHCS ALG THE CST ALL NGT...BUT END BY ARND MIDN MOST OTHER ZONES. QPFWISE WE/RE HOPING MOST LOCNS WILL GET .25 TO .49 FROM THIS...HVYST PCPN EXPECTED UP N WITH BEST FGEN FRCG. GUID MINS LOOK RSNBL. AIR MASS PRETTY DRY (CONVECTIVE TEMPS SKY HIGH) ON WED AND WE SHLD NOT SEE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CU OR CI (JET DEPARTING). AIR MASS SHLD BE ADIABATIC BLO H8 AND WITH DOWNSLPING CONTR WE WILL BE BOOSTING MAX TEMPS A BIT OVR GUID. BEYOND THAT...WE WILL MAKE THU A BIT MORE PESIM WITH ONSHR FLOW ON LATEST AVN. MOST CLDS SHLD BE ACRS SRN ZNS...BUT SINCE THIS FCST IS STILL A COUPLE OF DAYS AWAY...WON/T BE TOO DOUR. MARINE: SCA WILL CONT. .PHI... DE...NONE. MD...NONE. NJ...NONE. PA...NONE. MARINE...SCA FOR CSTL WATERS AND DE BAY. TFG
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
More
Every storm in Delaware in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5292635.