Lightning — Columbia, New York

2013-07-07 · near West Taghkanic, Columbia, New York

Event narrative

A 26 year old man was struck by lightning on a beach at Lake Taghkanic State Park in Gallatin. The man was standing under a tree that was struck by lightning and the lightning traveled through this body. He went into cardiac arrest, but was resuscitated at the park by emergency personnel. He was then brought to a hospital in Hudson and transferred to Albany Medical Center where he later died.

Wider weather episode

During the day on Sunday, July 7th, a warm, southerly flow around a Bermuda High Pressure area allowed plenty of moisture to stream into eastern New York. This allowed for an unstable air mass to be in place across the region. As an upper level shortwave moved from the Ohio Valley towards the Northeast, scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening hours. A few of these thunderstorms became severe, producing large hail and damaging winds. Hail reached the size of golf balls across portions of Columbia County. During one of the thunderstorms, a man was struck by lightning on a lake beach at a state park in Columbia County. He went to cardiac arrest, and later died.

In addition, the very moist air mass allowed these thunderstorms to produce very heavy rainfall in a short period of time. This led to flash flooding in a few locations, including portions of the Mohawk Valley that were still cleaning up from flash flooding earlier in the month and in late June.

Thunderstorm activity diminished by the evening hours due to the loss of daytime heating, ending the threat for additional severe storms or flash flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.0917, -73.7041)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 459833. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.