Name: Lightning Strike in Vermont, May 31, 2002
Start: 2002-05-31T12:30
End: 2002-05-31T12:30
Location: Vermont

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: $15,000
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 BTV wrote it up.

Lightning struck and shattered a sandstone cross atop a local college building in Burlington, VT.

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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 10:37 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 10:37 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1137 AM EDT FRI MAY 31 2002

UPDATED ZONES SENT OUT...MAINLY JUST TO KEEP FCST CURRENT.
SHWRS/THNDSTRMS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PRE FRONTAL TROF ARE CURRENTLY
WDSPRD ACRS NRN NY AND SCT IN VT. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO MOVE EAST
ACRS FA EARLY-MID PM. WNDS THE MAIN SVR WX THREAT WITH ANY THNDSTRMS.
ANOTHER ROUND OF SHWRS/STORMS PSBL LATER PM/EVEN AS CDFNT MOVES
THRU.

.BTV...NONE.

RJS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 31, 10:48 AM EST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

NYZ026>031-034-035-VTZ001>012-312000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1148 AM EDT FRI MAY 31 2002

...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTH COUNTRY
THIS AFTERNOON...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED THIS MORNING ACROSS NORTHERN NEW YORK.
THERE HAVE BEEN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS VERMONT
AS WELL. CONDITIONS WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE FOR THE
POSSIBILITY OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE
NORTH COUNTRY THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE APPROACH OF A COLD FRONT.
THE GREATEST WEATHER THREAT WITH THE MORE INTENSE STORMS WILL BE
STRONG TO DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.  HEAVY RAINS AND HAIL MAY ALSO
ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.  WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT THIS
EVENING...THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL COME TO AN END.

PERSONS ACROSS NORTHERN NEW YORK AND MUCH OF VERMONT SHOULD TAKE THE
NECESSARY ACTION AND PREPARE FOR THE POTENTIAL OF STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR ANY MEDIA
OUTLET THAT PROVIDES YOU WITH THE LATEST PRODUCTS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE...WHICH ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO KEEP YOU
INFORMED DURING SUCH POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS WEATHER SITUATIONS.

The radar

The Burlington radar (KCXX), 9 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Chittenden

When: May 31, 12:30 PM EST
Where: Chittenden County, Burlington
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 44.461, -73.081 (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

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, May 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: 5300000.