Event narrative (NOAA)
Lightning from the cirrus anvil of a distant thunderstorm struck and killed a nine year old child and injured two other children ages eleven and fifteen. The children were standing along the sidelines of the Wildwood High School football practice field. The nine year old male child died ten days after the strike.The nine year old child took the direct lightning hit and sustained major burn injuries to his forehead, chest, back and down the left side of his body to the soles of his feet. The two older children's injuries from the lighting were minor. The lightning struck nearly 35 minutes after a thunderstorm had passed over the field.
Other notable lightning events in Florida
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.