Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, July 19, 2002

Name: Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, July 19, 2002
Start: 2002-07-19T16:00
End: 2002-07-19T16:00
Location: Pennsylvania

July 19, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A lightning strike and the ensuing fire damaged a business in Bristol Township. A couple of fire fighting units were needed to bring the fire under control.

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: 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 lightning strike and the ensuing fire damaged a business in Bristol Township. A couple of fire fighting units were needed to bring the fire under control.

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 19, 2:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
329 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 2002

CHANGE IN AIRMASS TO TAKE PLACE LATER TNGT AND SAT AS A COLD
FRONT DROPS ACROSS THE FA. NUMEROUS SHWRS/TSTMS THRU THE EVENING
HOURS WILL TAPER OFF FROM N TO S LATER TNGT. SOME VERY HEAVY
RAIN MAY ACCOMPANY SOME OF THESE STORMS. ONCE THE FRONT DROPS
S AND THE PCPN ENDS...SKIES WILL BEGIN TO CLEAR FROM N TO S
TOWARD DAYBREAK. THE WEEKEND WX SHOULD BE PCPN FREE WITH SLIGHTLY
LOWER TEMPS AND HUMIDITY.

NO MARINE ADVS OR WRNGS.

.PHI...NONE.

RPW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 19, 12:59 PM EST, 3 hours 1 minute before

DEZ003-004-192100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - VERY HEAVY RAIN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
159 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 2002

...HEAVY RAIN OVER COASTAL SUSSEX COUNTY DELAWARE...
...INTENSE LIGHTNING WITH THIS STORM...

A SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER THE DELAWARE BEACHES AND
ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY. RADAR INDICATES THAT AS MUCH AS 3 INCHES OF
RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST HOUR. IF THESE STORMS DONT MOVE INTO
THE NEARSHORE WATERS SEVERAL MORE INCHES OF RAIN COULD FALL FLOODING
SOME OF THE ROADWAYS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING WAS ALSO OBSERVED WITH THIS
STORMS.

EBERWINE

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Bucks

When: July 19, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Bucks County, Bristol
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.337, -75.107 (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 Pennsylvania in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5308659.