Lightning — Burlington, New Jersey

2021-06-09 · near Timbuctoo, Burlington, New Jersey

Event narrative

A man in his 70s was struck and killed by lightning at Burlington Country Club. This was the first documented case of a fatal lightning strike in the United States in 2021. Time estimated from radar and dispatch calls.

Wider weather episode

A very hot and humid air mass remained in place over the mid-Atlantic on June 9, following several days of unusually hot and humid conditions for the season. Similar to the previous day, afternoon thunderstorm development occurred in the mid-Atlantic mainly due to the influence of a weak cold front to the north and a weak surface trough. Like the previous day, storms were disorganized due to weak wind fields and a lack of forcing. However, the strong to extreme instability allowed some storms to briefly become severe with a threat for damaging winds, hail, and torrential rain. Convection gradually dissipated during the evening hours with the loss of daytime heating.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.0300, -74.8100)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 953511. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.