Lightning in Windham County, Vermont

Seven fire fighters responding to a structure fire were struck by lightning during a thunderstorm in Guilford. Although all seven were sent to a hospital with minor injuries, no serious injuries were reported.

A warm southerly flow allowed for temperatures to reach well into the 80s to near 90 on Wednesday, July 2nd. In addition, it was rather humid with dewpoints nearing 70 degrees. With the warm and humid conditions in place, the atmosphere became quite unstable during the afternoon and evening hours.

Well ahead of a cold front, a surface trough was in place across upstate New York and western New England. This caused thunderstorms to develop during the afternoon hours. Many of these storms became severe to the east of southern Vermont across Upstate New York.

Although no storms were severe across southern Vermont, the thunderstorms did produce a significant amount of cloud to ground lightning. Several fire fighters in Guilford were struck by lightning, but no serious injuries were reported.

The thunderstorms ended by the late evening hours, as nocturnal influences helped wane the development of additional thunderstorms.