Lightning — Palm Beach, Florida

2019-07-30 · near Wellington, Palm Beach, Florida

Event narrative

Palm Beach Post reported 6 people, a woman and 5 men, were struck by lightning at the Shakerwood development off of Wellington Trace. This is west of the Mall at Wellington Green. The victims were working on the roof of a townhouse when the lightning struck. Two people, a 20-year-old woman and a man, were knocked off the roof by the lightning strike and were taken to a local hospital trauma center where the women was in critical condition. The woman died from her injuries on August 9th.

Two others were taken to local hospitals and recovered, while the remaining two victims were treated at the scene and released.

Based on lightning detection network data, the lightning strike was likely the first strike from a thunderstorm that developed very close to the location.

Wider weather episode

Afternoon heating with cold temperatures aloft allowed for convection to develop across the east coast and move towards the interior in the afternoon and evening. These storms produced frequent lightning across the region. A thunderstorm developed over Wellington and caused injuries to multiple people who were outside during the storm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.6574, -80.2349)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 846233. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.