Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maine, June 23 to 24, 2002
Start: 2002-06-23T19:45
End: 2002-06-24T00:30
Location: Maine

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $110,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 GYX wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms moving through western Maine knocked over trees in Mexico and Gilead in Oxford County on the evening of the 23rd. Later that night, lightning struck a former chicken barn in Limerick igniting a fire that destroyed the barn and equipment inside. Damage was estimated to be $110,000.

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 Gray, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 23, 1:00 PM EST, 6 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 23, 1:00 PM EST, 6 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
200 PM EDT SUN JUN 23 2002

ZONES...
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE OFF THE COAST BY 06Z.  AHEAD OF IT...SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.  MAIN CONCERN IS POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS /MOSTLY WIND GUSTS/ AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.  LOTS OF
LOW LEVEL JUICE...HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES...VERY HIGH 850 MB
DEW POINTS ALONG WITH STRONGEST LOW LEVEL WINDS ADVECTING ACROSS THE
850 THETA-E AXIS WHICH IS SHOWING VERY HIGH VALUES.  ALSO INCREASING
WIND FIELD AS JET DECENDS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
DIGS TO THE EAST.  WILL MENTION POSSIBLE STRONGER GUSTS AND HEAVY
RAIN OVER NH AND WESTERN MAINE MOUNTAINS WHERE SOME SUNSHINE
BREAKING OUT AND LESS OF A MARINE INFLUENCE ACTING TO STABILIZE AIR
MASS.

WILL MONITOR CONDITIONS NEXT FEW HOURS FOR SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL
/MAINLY DUE TO WINDS/.  SPC HAS SLIGHT RISK FOR NORTHERN ZONES AND
LATEST DISCUSSION CONCERNED ABOUT WESTERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

BEHIND THE FRONT IT WILL CLEAR OUT LATER TONIGHT WITH LOTS OF
SUNSHINE ON MONDAY.  STRONG NORTHWEST GRADIENT WILL MIX DOWN TO THE
SURFACE SO WILL HIGHLIGHT WINDY IN THE FORECAST FOR MONDAY. WEAK
SYSTEM MOVES IN ON THE NORTHWEST UPPER LEVEL FLOW TUESDAY NIGHT...
CLOUDS MOVING INTO SOUTHERN NH FIRST THEN MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS
FORECAST AREA.  WILL FORECAST UNSETTLED WEATHER WITH A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.

THE MAV TEMPS RUNNING COLDER THAN THE FWCS.  WILL USE A COMPROMISE
...BUT LEAN TOWARD THE COOLER SOLUTION SINCE WE HAVE BEEN RUNNING
BELOW NORMAL MOST DAYS LATELY.  MRF NUMBERS USED FOR THE EXTENDED
PERIOD.

CWF...
WILL KEEP THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UP.  SW WINDS SHOULD INCREASE TO
SCA LEVELS ONCE WARM FRONT MOVES THROUGH AND STRONG SW GRADIENT SETS
UP AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT.  MODELS...VIA BUFKIT SOUNDINGS...SHOW
STRONG LOW LEVEL JET MOVING OVER THE WATERS THIS EVENING.  BEHIND
THE FRONT SHOULD STILL SEE SCA STRENGTH WINDS WITH STRONG GRADIENT
FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AND NORTHWEST WINDS LINING UP FROM SURFACE TO
500 MB WHERE THE FLOW IS ALSO RATHER STRONG.

PWMWRKZFP AND PWMWRKCWF AVBL IN AWIPS.  MAY MAKE LAST MINUTE CHANGES
BASED ON LATEST OBSERVED DATA...OR IF A SEVERE WEATHER WATCH IS
ISSUED.

FCSTID = 2

.GYX...
ME...SCA.
NH...SCA.

SJC

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 23, 6:50 PM EST, 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY, ME
750 PM EDT SUN JUN 23 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0720 PM    NORTH STRATFORD           NH   TSTM WIND GUST
06/23/02   COOS                           LARGE TREES DOWN, ONE
                                          DAMAGED A HOUSE ON OLD MILL
                                          ROAD

TEB

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Oxford

When: June 23, 7:45 PM EST
Where: Oxford County, Mexico
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 44.550, -70.533

Thunderstorm Wind, Oxford

When: June 23, 8:30 PM EST
Where: Oxford County, Gilead
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 44.400, -70.983

Lightning, York

When: June 24, 12:30 AM EST
Where: York County, Limerick
Property damage: $110,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.429, -70.670 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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 Maine in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Maine, June 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: 5305471, 5305472, 5305473.