MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ – A deadly lightning strike has shaken a busy New Jersey community after officials said a man was hit and killed while he was outdoors Tuesday.
The National Lightning Safety Council reported that the victim, a 32-year-old man, was in a field when lightning struck amid severe weather conditions.
The fatal incident happened just one day after Lightning Safety Awareness Week concluded. The annual campaign, launched in 2001, was created to spotlight the danger of lightning, a hazard that has seen average annual deaths fall from 55 to about 20.
Roughly 37 million lightning strikes reach the ground in the US every year. Still, the chances of being struck remain below one in a million, and nearly 90% of those hit survive, according to the CDC.
“States with the highest numbers of lightning-related injuries and deaths include Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, Arizona, Missouri, and Pennsylvania,” the CDC said.
The Monroe Township death marks the eighth lightning fatality reported so far in 2026. Two of those deaths have occurred in Florida, where more than 2,000 lightning-related injuries have been recorded over the past 50 years.
Police have not yet released additional details about the victim.
