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Weather Blogs / WeatherMatrix

Tragic Lightning Stories on July 4th

By Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather meteorologist

Published Jul 4, 2009 10:32 PM EDT | Updated Jul 4, 2009 10:47 PM EDT

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Tragedy struck a church group in Lakeland, Florida today when one person was killed, and 18 injured, by a lightning strike while they were playing soccer at an Independence Day celebration. The article said that the lightning "came out of nowhere" but the radar shows that they were on the eastern edge of a thunderstorm.

Whether the lightning was actually a "bolt from the blue" extending eastward from the cloud, or was just a surprise because it was dry or sunny at their location will be impossible to determine without seeing detailed lightning strike data, and unfortunately I don't have access to mapped data at street level beyond 2 hours back. Either way, it's a sad story on a holiday and underscores the need for more lightning safety and lightning safety education.

RANDOM LIGHTNING PHOTOS FROM OUR PHOTO GALLERY (RELOAD FOR MORE):

Lightning also set a house on fire in Freeport, Maine today and killed 3 people in India today, and caused additional havoc yesterday when it set a church steeple ablaze near Boston and struck a woman in Utah.

June 2009 had already been labeled unusually deadly for lightning.

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Jesse Ferrell
AccuWeather Meteorologist and Social Media Manager Jesse Ferrell covers extreme weather and the intersection of meteorology and social media.
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AccuWeather Weather Blogs Tragic Lightning Stories on July 4th
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