Lightning, Carbon
- When
- August 15, 6:50 PM EST
- Where
- Carbon County, Jim Thorpe
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, August 15, 2002
A lightning strike of a natural gas line in Jim Thorpe caused a fire beneath the Pennsylvania State Route 903 Inter-Borough Bridge. The fire forced the closure of the bridge and a voluntary evacuation of nearby residents in a nursing home and on Front Street.
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
- 1
- 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 lightning strike of a natural gas line in Jim Thorpe caused a fire beneath the Pennsylvania State Route 903 Inter-Borough Bridge. The fire forced the closure of the bridge and a voluntary evacuation of nearby residents in a nursing home and on Front Street. Pennsylvania Power and Light crew shut off the meters to individual customers and the gas line itself. About 1,000 homes lost their gas supply. The fire then burned itself out at 1245 a.m. EDT on the 16th. Elsewhere in Jim Thorpe, another lightning strike occurred so close to one home that the ensuing thunder shook the home so violently that a picture flew off the wall. The picture landed on a woman and caused head and shoulder bruises.
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 15, 2:30 PM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 2:30 PM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 330 PM EDT THU AUG 15 2002 BERMUDA HIGH REMAINS IN CONTROL OF OUR WEATHER UNTIL LATE SUNDAY WHEN A STRONG COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE CWA. UNTIL THEN MORE HOT AND HUMID WEATHER IN STORE FOR OUR AREA. UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN PA THIS AFTN AND EVENING COULD TOUCH OFF A FEW SHOWERS OR A THUNDERSTORM BUT NOT MUCH ACTIVITY SHOWING UP ON THE 88D ATTM. TONIGHT WILL FEATURE PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND PERHAPS A THUNDERSTORM WITH VORT MAX MOVING THROUGH THE REGION. SAME STORY FOR FRI BUT EVEN THOUGH TSRA ACTIVITY MORE LIKELY IN THE AFTN WILL NOT BE SPECIFIC WITH TIMING IN THE FCST. CHANCE OF TSRA CONTINUES ON SAT AS WELL. TEMPS ON FRI AND SAT MAY BE A COUPLE OF DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAY (90 TO MID 90S) BUT WITH DEWPTS IN THE 70S EXPECTED BOTH DAYS SEE NO COMPELLING REASON TO DROP EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING. MODELS ARE SOMEWHAT OPTIMISTIC IN PREDICTING PCPN ON FRI WHICH WOULD LOWER TEMPS BUT DROUGHT BEGETS DROUGHT AND AM NOT REAL COMFORTABLE DROPPING HEAT WARNING FOR PCPN WHICH MAY NOT OCCUR. SOME ISOLATED GUSTS UP TO 25 KT ALONG THE COAST BUT OTHERWISE ALL QUIET ON THE MARINE. FCSTID = 24 ABE 72 90 69 90 / 30 40 30 30 RDG 72 90 69 90 / 30 40 30 30 PHL 76 93 74 93 / 30 40 30 30 12N 72 89 68 88 / 30 40 30 30 SMQ 72 91 70 91 / 30 40 30 30 TTN 74 91 72 91 / 30 40 30 30 MIV 74 90 72 90 / 30 40 30 30 ACY 75 85 73 85 / 30 40 30 30 ILG 74 91 72 91 / 30 40 30 30 DOV 75 91 73 91 / 30 40 30 30 GED 75 91 73 91 / 30 40 30 30 ESN 75 91 73 91 / 30 40 30 30 .PHI... DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY FOR ZONE DEZ001. MD...NONE. NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY FOR ZONES NJZ015...NJZ017>019. PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY FOR ZONES PAZ067>071. JJM
The radar
The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:47 UTC.
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
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Texas, August 15, 2002
- Lightning Strikes in North Carolina, August 15, 2002
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 15, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 15, 2002
- Damaging Winds in New York, August 15, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 15, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Tennessee, August 15, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 15, 2002
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, August 15, 2002
- Flood in Texas, August 15, 2002
- Flood in Texas, August 15, 2002
- Flood in Louisiana, August 15, 2002
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5317489.