Lightning struck a home in Columbus County.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Lightning struck a home in Columbus County.
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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 6:45 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 745 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 2009 .SYNOPSIS... A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA WILL HELP DEVELOP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS WEAK WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOP AND RIDE ALONG THIS BOUNDARY. DRIER AIR WILL MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE REGION ON SATURDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE STARTS TO BUILD INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF 6 PM TUESDAY...A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING FROM UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH CHARLOTTE AND INTO THE RALEIGH/DURHAM AREA DEFINED THE NORTHERN EDGE OF A NARROW ZONE OF SURFACE-BASED INSTABILITY WHERE TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED INTO THE MID TO UPPER 70S. THE FRONT ITSELF IS BACKING THE LOW-LEVEL WIND DIRECTIONS AND INCREASING HELICITY AND EFFECTIVE SHEAR VALUES SUFFICIENTLY THAT A TORNADO THREAT HAS DEVELOPED FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SPC HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THIS AREA THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. IF DISCRETE CELLS CAN BECOME RIGHT-MOVING RELATIVE TO THE 0-6KM MEAN WIND VECTOR...WE COULD SEE A THREAT FOR TORNADOES DEVELOP FROM BENNETTSVILLE INTO LUMBERTON AND ELIZABETHTOWN LATER THIS EVENING. ELSEWHERE ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA...COOL STABLE AIR OVER CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND EASTERN GEORGIA COURTESY OF THE LARGE CONVECTIVE CLUSTER THERE HAS CAPPED SURFACE-BASED PARCELS TO FREE CONVECTION. CLOUDY SKIES WITH ONLY SMALL CHANCES FOR SHOWERS WILL EXIST OVERNIGHT. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 3 PM TUESDAY...RATHER UNSETTLED WEATHER THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD AS SERIES OF SHORT WAVES MOVE THROUGH THE H5 FLOW. WITH SFC BOUNDARY DRAPED ACROSS THE CWA DURING THIS PERIOD EXPECT CONVECTION TO FIRE UP ACROSS THE CWA WITH THE GREATEST LIKELIHOOD ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA DURING THIS TIME FRAME. WILL DELINEATE THIS IN THE GRIDS WITH SLIGHT CHC POPS ALONG THE COASTAL ZONES UP TO LIKELY TO THE WESTERN ZONES...SEA BREEZE FRONT WILL STABILIZE THE AIR MASS ALONG THE COAST AS IT HAS THE PAST FEW DAYS KEEPING THE SHOWERS AND STORMS INLAND UNTIL LATER IN THE PERIOD WHEN THE FRONT DIPS FURTHER TO THE SOUTH AND EAST AND SHORT WAVE ENERGY MOVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. HAVE FOLLOWED THE GFS/MAV NUMBERS FOR THE PERIOD AND USED THE GFS FOR POPS. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... AS OF 3 PM TUESDAY...FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A FAST WESTERLY FLOW THROUGH THE PERIOD. SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED IN THIS FLOW WILL TRIGGER INCREASED CONVECTION...BUT TIMING OF THESE FEATURES IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT. ONE SHORT WAVE MAY AFFECT THE AREA FRIDAY AND ANOTHER LATER SATURDAY. THE PASSAGE OF SECOND SHORT WAVE SHOULD BRING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA. THIS FRONT SHOULD CLEAR OUR FORECAST AREA...BEFORE STALLING TO OUR S. WILL CONTINUE PREVIOUS FORECAST TRENDS AND BRING DRIER AIR INTO THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE DRIER AIR WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY COOLER TEMPS...EVEN WITH FULL SUNSHINE...AS HIGH PRESSURE OF CANADIAN ORIGIN BUILDS SOUTH. && .AVIATION /00Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... AT 00 UTC...THE STATIONARY FRONT CONTINUES TO RUN FROM JUST SOUTH OF NORFOLK TO CHARLOTTE. THE CLOUD COVER AND LACK OF INSTABILITY FROM MORNING CONVECTION HAS REDUCED THE CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS AT THE TERMINAL SITES THIS EVENING. HAVE KEPT MOST TAF SITES AT VFR/MVFR FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE OVERNIGHT. WITH STRONG WINDS ALONG THE COAST THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR STRATUS TO FORM AT THE COASTAL SITES AND WITH LIGHTER WINDS AND SOME CLOUD COVER MAY SEE SOME MIST TO 3 MILES. WITH DISTURBANCES IN THE WEST TO SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW AND FRONTAL BOUNDARY JUST TO THE NORTH OF THE TAF SITES THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE FOR CONVECTION IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS OF WEDNESDAY. EXTENDED OUTLOOK THROUGH SUNDAY...SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH AFTERNOON. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF 3 PM TUESDAY...EXPECT CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA...BUT THERE IS SOME CONCERN THAT THUNDERSTORMS WILL CHURN UP SEAS TO NEAR THRESHOLD AND WILL BE MONITORING FOR THAT. OTHERWISE WINDS WILL BE FROM THE SSW THROUGH THE PERIOD. A MODEST JET WILL REDEVELOP OVERNIGHT...BUT SPEEDS SHOULD BE CAPPED AT 20 KT NEAR THE SURFACE. WINDS WILL BE LOCALLY STRONGER IN THE VICINITY OF THUNDERSTORMS. SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 3 PM TUESDAY...WINDS TO PREVAIL OUT OF THE FOR WEDNESDAY BECOMING SW ON THURSDAY AT 10 TO 15 KTS AND AROUND 20 KTS FROM 20-40 NM OUT. SEAS WILL BE RUNNING IN THE 3-5 FOOT RANGE NEAR SHORE AND APPROACH THE 6 FOOT CRITERIA FOR SCA ON THURSDAY OVER ONSLOW BAY BEFORE THE SEAS START TO SUBSIDE BY THURSDAY EVENING. LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... AS OF 3 PM TUESDAY...WIND DIRECTION WILL REMAIN S TO SW UNTIL COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE WHICH MAY OCCUR SAT NIGHT/SUN MORNING. ONGOING SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD MAY PERSIST FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. NC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...MAC NEAR TERM...RJD/TRA SHORT TERM...MAC LONG TERM...RJD AVIATION...HAWKINS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 548 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 2009 NCZ097-099>101-SCZ023-032>034-039-046-062200- PENDER-COLUMBUS-BRUNSWICK-NEW HANOVER-DARLINGTON-FLORENCE-MARION- HORRY-WILLIAMSBURG-GEORGETOWN- 548 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. NCZ087-096-SCZ017-024-062200- ROBESON-BLADEN-MARLBORO-DILLON- 548 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 2009 ...TORNADO WATCH 246 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. TORNADO WATCH. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY RAIN...TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. AMZ250-252-254-256-062200- SURF CITY TO CAPE FEAR NC OUT 20 NM- CAPE FEAR NC TO LITTLE RIVER INLET SC OUT 20 NM- LITTLE RIVER INLET TO MURRELLS INLET SC OUT 20 NM- MURRELLS INLET TO SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SC OUT 20 NM- 548 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. 9
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
245 PM EDT TUE MAY 05 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 PM TSTM WND DMG 6 SW PENDERLEA 34.60N 78.11W
05/04/2009 PENDER NC TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE BRANCHES 5-6 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWN. NO
DAMAGE TO HOUSE. HAD TO USE CHAINSAW TO REMOVE THEM.
&&
ROSSThe Wilmington radar (KLTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:30 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a house on Memorys Corner Rd in Columbus County. The ensuing fire caused significant damage to the home. No one was injured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2009
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: 171576.