Lightning — York, Pennsylvania

2025-07-26 · near Menges Mill, York, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A thunderstorm produced lightning that struck a garage and started a fire on the 7900 block of Woodland Drive in Paradise Township, York County. The fire began to spread rapidly, damaging portions of the residence before crews were able to put out the fire. No injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

Showers and thunderstorms across eastern Ohio and western PA associated with a weak shortwave continued approaching portions of central Pennsylvania during the early morning hours of July 26, 2025. As showers and thunderstorms continued progressing eastward across the Commonwealth, interactions with a quasi-stationary boundary in an increasingly unstable and moist environment allowed for intensification of showers and thunderstorms. Severe thunderstorms began to produce tree damage in Blair County before continuing to produce tree damage into the south-central mountains during the afternoon hours. Later in the evening, an isolated cell began to pop up across the Middle Susquehanna Valley in a corridor of enhanced instability and shear, causing tree damage in northern Lancaster County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.8699, -76.9303)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1273320. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.