Lightning Strike in New Jersey, August 5, 2002

Name: Lightning Strike in New Jersey, August 5, 2002
Start: 2002-08-05T14:14
End: 2002-08-05T14:30
Location: New Jersey

August 5, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning strikes injured one person and damaged a couple of structures in the city of Brigantine. Lightning struck a house under construction.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $30,000
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 strikes injured one person and damaged a couple of structures in the city of Brigantine. Lightning struck a house under construction. It then struck a construction worker at the site and injured him. Another lightning strike hit a garage. The ensuing fire damaged the garage and garage roof and then spread to the home. The porch roof and exterior walls of the house were damaged before the fire was extinguished. Damage to the home was estimated at $25,000. Lightning also struck a hotel roof antenna. Guests were evacuated from the hotel. No fire occurred, but heavy rain damaged one room. Brigantine beach patrol's radio tower was also struck by lightning as were two radio stations' antennas. About 1,200 Conectiv homes and businesses lost power in Brigantine, Northfield and Egg Harbor Township.

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 Aug 5, 1:44 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 1:44 PM EST, 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
244 PM EDT MON AUG 5 2002

WL ALLOW XCSV HT WRNG/HT ADVSRY TO EXPIRE THIS EVE. SPOTTY AM PRECIP
AND CLDS MAKING FOR SLOW TEMP RECOVERY...HOWEVER FEEL THAT WITH A
LTL SUN YET THIS AFTN...TEMPS WL GO INTO THE 90S MOST PLACES...WITH
XCPTN OF HIER ELEVATIONS TO N.

CD FNT TO MOV ACRS AREA TNGT. COMBO OF FNT/HT/HUMIDITY WL CAUSE TRW
TO DVLP DURNG AFTN AND EVE...WITH SVR POTENTIAL IN STG WNDS AND HVY
RNS. FNT WL MOVE S OF AREA ERLY TUE AND CLD CVR TO DIMINISH WITH
COOLER WX TO MOV IN THRU ABT LT WK. AFT PRECIP CHCS LT TDA AND
TNGT...NONE XPCTD THRU AT LEAST ERLY WKEND AND PSBLY NOT UNTIL MON.

ON MARINE...WL CONT HDLN OF SCA WL BE NEEDED TUE.

FCSTID = 14
MPO   57  71  50  71 /  40   0   0   0
ABE   63  76  53  76 /  60   0   0   0
RDG   63  77  55  77 /  60   0   0   0
PHL   69  80  61  80 /  70  20   0   0
12N   58  74  51  76 /  50   0   0   0
SMQ   64  79  56  79 /  60  20   0   0
TTN   64  80  57  80 /  70  20   0   0
MIV   69  80  54  80 /  70  20   0   0
ACY   70  77  62  79 /  70  20   0   0
ILG   66  80  57  80 /  70  20   0   0
DOV   69  78  58  80 /  70  20   0   0
GED   70  77  57  80 /  70  20   0   0
ESN   67  80  57  80 /  70  20   0   0

.PHI...
DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING ENDING THIS EVENING FOR ZONE DEZ001.

HEAT ADVISORY ENDING THIS EVENING FOR ZONES DEZ002>003.

MD...HEAT ADVISORY ENDING THIS EVENING FOR ZONES
MDZ008...MDZ012...MDZ015...MDZ019>020.

NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING ENDING THIS EVENING FOR ZONES NJZ015>019.

PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING ENDING THIS EVENING FOR ZONES
PAZ060...PAZ067>071.

MARINE...NONE.

JWH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 5, 11:00 AM EST, 3 hours 14 minutes before

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-052000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1200 PM EDT MON AUG 5 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA CONTINUES A SLIGHT
RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATER TODAY FOR OUR AREA. HOT AND VERY
HUMID AIR COVERS THE REGION...AND WILL PROVIDE THE FUEL FOR STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  AN
UNUSUALLY STRONG COLD FRONT FOR AUGUST WILL PUNCH SOUTH INTO THE
REGION THIS EVENING...HELPING INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS FOR TODAY ARE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS
AND LARGE HAIL.  IN ADDITION...DUE TO THE VERY MOIST AIR OVER THE
REGION...THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED
FLASH FLOODING.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT AS THE
COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
DETAILS OR UPDATES.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PHI IN SMALL LETTERS.

JWH

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Atlantic

When: August 5, 2:14 PM EST to 2:30 PM EST
Where: Atlantic County, Brigantine
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (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 New Jersey in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, August 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: 5318071.