Lightning — Somerset, Pennsylvania

2012-07-24 · near Garrett, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A Somerset County woman and her unborn baby were killed when she was struck by lightning around 1100 am EDT. The woman was hit on Rockdale Road in Summit Township near Garrett while taking cover from a storm under a pine tree. According to PSP, the woman, her husband and two of their children were in the woods picking blueberries when it began to storm. The woman took shelter under one tree and her husband and two children took shelter under another tree nearby. The woman's husband was also hit and slightly injured. The children were not affected.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed early in the morning across southwest Pennsylvania on the northern edge of a large convective system moving eastward from the Ohio Valley into the central Appalachians. Strong west-northwest deep layer wind shear proved favorable for loosely organized clusters/lines with some enhanced bowing segments. These storms produced localized wind damage across portions of Somerset County. The storms also produced frequent lightning, which struck and killed a 36-year-old woman near Garrett in the southeastern corner of Somerset County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.8700, -79.0700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 386650. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.