New Jersey, 2002

Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 11, 2002

July 11, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 28-year-old woman was fatally struck by lightning on the LaReine Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach during the early evening of the 11th. She was found in distress on the beach with burn marks in the mid section of her body before she passed away.

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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The toll

Deaths
1
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.

A 28-year-old woman was fatally struck by lightning on the LaReine Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach during the early evening of the 11th. She was found in distress on the beach with burn marks in the mid section of her body before she passed away.

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 Jul 11, 2:25 PM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 11, 2:25 PM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
325 PM EDT THU JUL 11 2002

MID AFTERNOON LOCAL SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS TEMPS RANGING FROM THE
UPPER 60S IN THE NORMALLY COOLEST LOCALES TO THE MID 70S IN THE
WARMEST. DP/S ARE GENERALLY IN THE LOWER TO MID 40S.

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE STILL SLATED TO MOVE OVER THE REGION
TONIGHT...THEN OFFSHORE TOMORROW. IN RESPONSE WINDS ARE STILL
EXPECTED TO GO LIGHT TONIGHT...WITH A TRANSITION DAY TOMORROW...
THEN MORE SOUTHERLY ON SATURDAY.

TEMPS WERE GENERALLY IN THE 50S THIS MORNING WITH TTN REPORTING A
RECORD OF 57. THE OLD NUMBER WAS 59. THE SUSSEX COUNTY NJ WEATHER
NETWORK RECORDED SOME LOWS IN 40S WITH WALPACK COMING IN WITH 41.

WITH THE WINDS SUBSIDING TONIGHT...OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPS WILL COME IN
A BIT LOWER COMPARED TO THIS MORNING. ON A SIDE NOTE...MOST RECORD
LOWS ARE ALSO LOWER ON THE 12TH COMPARED TO THE 11TH...SO DON/T
THINK WE/LL SEE A WIDE ARRAY OF RECORDS BEING BROKE...ALTHOUGH THEY
WILL BE APPROACHED. ALSO...SOME UPPER 30/S CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS
THE NORMALLY COLDEST LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE
RECORDS FOR OUR CLIMATE SITES.

                   LOCATION         JULY 12TH
                   --------         ---------
                     ABE               48
                     ACY               51
                     PHL               55
                     ILG               51
                     RDG               48
                     TTN               56
                     GED               51

WITH TRAJECTORIES STILL EXPECTED TO BECOME UNFAVORABLE...CANADIAN
SMOKE IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH AT LEAST 60 HOURS. WITH THE CLOUD
COVER GONE...THE LATEST VISIBLE SAT PIX/S ARE ONCE AGAIN PICKING UP
THE PLUMES.

LITTLE CHANGE IN THE EXTENDED. THINGS WILL REMAIN DRY...BUT WILL
BUMP TEMPS UP A CATEGORY OR TWO A COUPLE OF DAYS

MARINE: THE SCA BETWEEN LITTLE EGG AND FENWICK AS WELL AS THE LOWER
BAY HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN.

FCSTID = 29
MPO   45  77  50  81 /   0   0   0   0
ABE   49  81  54  84 /   0   0   0   0
RDG   50  82  55  84 /   0   0   0   0
PHL   59  84  62  86 /   0   0   0   0
12N   45  79  50  83 /   0   0   0   0
SMQ   48  81  54  84 /   0   0   0   0
TTN   55  83  59  86 /   0   0   0   0
MIV   49  83  53  83 /   0   0   0   0
ACY   57  79  60  79 /   0   0   0   0
ILG   55  83  59  86 /   0   0   0   0
DOV   59  85  63  86 /   0   0   0  10
GED   60  85  64  86 /   0   0   0  10
ESN   58  85  62  86 /   0   0   0  10

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

KRUZDLO

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Monmouth

When
July 11, 6:24 PM EST
Where
Monmouth County, Bradley Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Lightning, Monmouth2002-07-1128FemaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

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 New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, July 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: 5308549.