A late night thunderstorm produced a bolt of lightning that struck a picnic table in the back yard of a home in the Malvern of Madison subdivision of the city of Madison. The bolt spread out along the ground, leaving a "Y" shaped scar in the landscape.
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The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A late night thunderstorm produced a bolt of lightning that struck a picnic table in the back yard of a home in the Malvern of Madison subdivision of the city of Madison. The bolt spread out along the ground, leaving a "Y" shaped scar in the landscape. Underground telephone and cable lines were fried by the bolt. In addition, the bolt damaged a shed and threw the picnic table a few feet and covered it in dirt.
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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 8, 8:25 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 925 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 PREV FCST ON TRACK WITH LINE OF SHRA/TSRA MOVING INTO WRN ZNS ATTM. LINE HAS HISTORY OF WND DMG FURTHER TO THE NW...SO WL WATCH CLOSELY AND MAY SEE A FEW DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN THE NW WHERE DEEP LYR SHEAR IS MAXIMIZED. NO UPDATE PLANNED. MANNING ........PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS..... .SHORT TERM TNGT THRU MON... TROF AND CDFNT SLATED TO CROSS THE CWA TNGT. CONVECTION INCRG ALG IT OVR THE OH VLY. ACTIVITY SHD BEGIN TO WANE AFT SUNSET DUE TO STABILIZATION. MODELS SHOW SOME FAIRLY DECENT LEFTOVER OMEGA AHD OF THE FNT AS IT ENTERS WRN ZONES THAT QUICKLY SUBSIDES OVERNIGHT. WILL USE 40 POPS IN THE NW HIGHLANDS AND 30 ELSW FOR TNGT. ALSO SEEING SOME DEVELOPMENT EKN VCNTY WHICH WILL AFFECT HIGHLANDS SHORTLY. BOTH MODELS INDC JUST SOME LINGERING CLDS IN THE SE IN THE MORNING. OTRW...MONDAY LOOKS QUITE NICE. 850 MB FCST TEMPS SUPPORT SFC READINGS IN THE 80 TO 85 RANGE IN THE METRO AREAS. A GOOD WEST BREEZE WILL HELP THIS DUE TO COMPRESSION/DOWNSLOPING. BL WINDS PEAK IN THE LOW TO MID TEENS TMRW. SHD NOT BE MUCH HIER THAN THAT OVR THE WATER GIVEN WEAK CAA PTN BEHIND FNT. NO FLAGS PLANNED IN THE CWF. RDH .LONG TERM (MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)... WV LOOP REVEALS STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER MIDWEST...WITH RIDGE OVER PACIFIC. RETROGRATION OF UPPER LOW OVER UPPER HUDSON BAY AND OF ANTICYCLONIC FEATURE WEST OF CALIFORNIA (PLUS LACK OF STRONG JETS ON UPPER AIR MAPS) SUGGEST LARGE SCALE PATTERN WILL REMAIN LARGELY UNCHANGED THROUGH MIDWEEK ONCE THE MIDWEST WAVE PASSES. OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE ARE TWO WEAK SHORTWAVES LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CENTRAL ALBERTA...AND AN UPPER LOW NEAR BAJA CALIFORNIA. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN BEHIND NEXT SYSTEM MONDAY NIGHT THOUGH TUESDAY. MODELS MERGE ENERGY FROM TWO WESTERN CANADA WEAK SHORTWAVES OVER THE GREAT LAKES TUESDAY. GFS IS A BIT FASTER IN BRINGING IN 850 MB WARM ADVECTION AND MID LEVEL INSTABILITY TUESDAY NIGHT. WILL BLEND ETA/GFS TIMING AND INTRODUCE CHANCE POPS AFTER MIDNIGHT WEST OF BLUE RIDGE...BUT BULK OF WARM ADVECTION PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE NORTH OF AREA GIVEN BETTER DYNAMICS. WITH THE UPPER LOW STATIONARY OVER THE HIGH HUDSON BAY AREA...MIDWEEK SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE IT WILL SHEAR NORTHEAST INTO TROUGH AXIS. THIS LAYS FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER CWA WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY (WITH GFS LIFTING IT NORTH OVER THE WEEKEND). WEAK UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM NEAR BAJA WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE NEXT WEEK. THIS SYSTEM WILL LIKELY SLOWLY TRACK EAST (GIVEN THAT IT IS CURRENTLY NOT ENTIRELY CUT OFF PER SAY...BUT WIND FIELDS IN THAT REGION ARE MEAGER)...AND MAY RELEASE WEAK IMPULSES DOWNSTREAM DURING THE MIDWEEK...CREATING WEAK WAVES ALONG THE STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THINK THE GFS PRESSURE FIELDS MAY BE CONTAMINATED BY CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK. THEREFORE WILL NOT FOLLOW FOR TIMING OF WAVES. THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY WILL NOT BE WASHOUTS...BUT GIVEN SUMMERTIME INSTABILITY EACH DAY POSSES A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEPENDING ON THE EXACT TIMING OF EACH WEAK IMPULSE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR CLIMO THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT A WAVE OVER THE GREAT LAKES DRAWS THE FRONT NORTHWARD FOR SATURDAY...PROVIDING A NICE SUMMER DAY. HOWEVER...EVEN IN THIS SCENARIO...THE FRONT WOULD SINK BACK SOUTH BEHIND THE WAVE FOR SUNDAY. DONT HAVE HIGHER THAN A 70 PERCENT CONFIDENCE OF THIS SOLUTION YET...SO WILL MAINTAIN CURRENT 30 POPS DURING SATURDAY FOR NOW. ROGOWSKI .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-091000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1035 AM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY... FLOOD WARNINGS ARE POSTED FOR THE MONOCACY RIVER AND CONOCOCHEAGUE CREEK IN MARYLAND. OTHERWISE HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... RIVER LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH THROUGH MONDAY. OTHERWISE...HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. END/46
WVZ048-054-090015- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 705 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG THE ALLEGANY FRONT... AT 705 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 3 MILES NORTH OF SENECA ROCKS TO 5 MILES WEST OF CHERRY GROVE...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF FRANKLIN...PETERSBURG AND UPPER TRACT WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS THROUGH 815 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
VAZ021-WVZ048-054-090300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 801 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 AT 7:57 PM RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER HIGHLAND AND PENDLETON COUNTIES. MAIN THREAT WITH STORMS WILL BE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. RADAR HAS ESTIMATED UP TO AN INCH OF RAIN IN THE LAST HOUR WITH THESE STORMS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
WVZ048-054-055-090345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 845 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 AT 8:42 PM RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER PENDLETON COUNTY MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH. RADAR HAS ESTIMATED ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN WITH THIS STORM. MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEA SIZE HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
MDZ002-WVZ049-090230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 925 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 AT 9:25 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF LONACONING IN GARRETT COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF CUMBERLAND...FROSTBURG...LA VALE...LONACONING...WESTERNPORT...KEYSER...PIEDMONT AND RIDGELEY WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 10:30 PM EDT. IN ADDITION TO STRONG GUSTY WINDS THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. ROSA
MDZ002-003-VAZ028-WVZ050>052-090330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1012 PM EDT SUN JUN 8 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY... AT 1011 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 4 MILES EAST OF FLINTSTONE TO 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD TO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROMNEY...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. A LARGE PORTION OF WASHINGTON...ALLEGANY...CITY OF WINCHESTER... FREDERICK...HAMPSHIRE...BERKELEY AND MORGAN COUNTIES WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS THROUGH 1130 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike damaged structures and landscape in the Malvern of Madison subdivision.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, June 2003
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: 5370007.