Lightning — Lake, Florida

2018-06-27 · near Umatilla, Lake, Florida

Event narrative

Per a report received via a local newspaper, a 44-year-old man was killed after being struck by lightning in Umatilla. At 1721 LST, a man was found unconscious by his neighbors on a small pontoon boat at his home on Lake Owen, on the 40000th block of Long Island Drive in Umatilla. The neighbors called the Lake County Sheriffs Office, and first responders transported the man to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The medical examiners office determined the cause of death to be electrocution, and this is further supported by burn marks found on the seat and floor of the boat. NWS Melbourne meteorologists determined the lightning strike occurred around 1258 LST, this was confirmed by reports from the neighbors who heard loud bang of the strike many hours before finding the deceased man on his boat.

Wider weather episode

The main flow across central Florida was from the west-southwest due to a frontal trough moving across the mid-Atlantic states, and the axis of the Bermuda High Pressure situated across south Florida. Moisture was high across the area with Precipitable Water values around 1.80 to 2.00 inches. Temperatures aloft at 500 mb were around -6 to -7 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere was favorable for showers and thunderstorms to develop along the east and west coast sea breezes. Due to the stronger west winds, the west coast sea breeze was dominant, and the main collision between the two sea breezes occurred closer to the east central Florida coast. Still, numerous showers and thunderstorms impacted much of east central Florida. One man was killed after being struck by lightning in Umatilla, while another man was injured after being struck by lightning in Orlando.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (28.9414, -81.6834)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 753974. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.