Lightning — Essex, New Jersey

2025-06-19 · near Maplewood, Essex, New Jersey

Event narrative

House struck by lightning in South Orange NJ.

Wider weather episode

A pre-frontal trough approached at the surface out ahead of a cold front. Aloft, a shortwave trough led to falling heights into the afternoon. These features combined with MLCAPE values between 1000 and 2000 J/kg and moderate shear allowed for thunderstorms to develop and become organized. These storms produced damaging wind gusts and frequent cloud to ground lightning in northeast NJ.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7400, -74.2700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1257188. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.