Yesterday afternoon, lightning hit Long Island Rail Road operations near Jamaica, causing a signal problem that then cascaded into service suspensions across LIRR as well as a temporary closure of Penn Station due to crowding. Service eventually came back later in the evening... only for it to be suspended again. However, today, the MTA believes that the LIRR morning commute—after crews worked all night to restore service— will "operate near-normal morning rush hour service... However, customers are advised that there will be some canceled trains and some delays." more ›

If you weren't worried about being clobbered by the massive hail falling in Queens (while Manhattan stays sunny!) this should keep you indoors for a bit longer. Reddit user xixtoo was filming the hail coming down outside his parents' house in Douglaston, Queens when lighting struck the tree in the front yard a few feet away. Naturally, the language is NSFW (can you blame him?) more ›

Yesterday's afternoon thunderstorms claimed the life of a NJ man in Newark while a cricket player in Brooklyn was seriously injured. In Marine Park, Brooklyn, Patrick Gibson had been playing cricket when the storm broke out: The Daily News reports that he may have lagged to collect equipment. A witness said, "His pants were burned. His tongue was out of his mouth and his eyes were rolled back in his head." Gibson had a heart attack and is currently in critical condition at Beth-Israel Medical Center. And in Newark, according to the Star-Ledger, four men were seeking refuge from the rain in a wooded area behind an apartment complex. All were struck by lightning: One died, while another remains in critical condition; the other two men suffered burns but are stable. more ›

Some of the victims struck by lightning on Sunday spoke to Newsday about their ordeal, with one describing how, "The lightning came out of my body through the foot, and my shoe exploded." A group of men who had been playing and watching soccer in a Hicksville park took shelter under a tree during the storm. But lightning struck, injuring five men. Elber Guerra has second- and third-degree burns on 35% of his body (his clothes caught fire) while Rene Castro has less severe burns; three others were released. Guerra doesn't remember being struck, but said his friends told him he "was choking on my tongue, with blood coming out of my mouth. They had to open my clenched teeth to get the tongue." more ›

Lightning strikes from NJ to Long Island hit twelve people. One of those people was fatally hit--a 38-year-old NJ man who was laying on a Sandy Hook beach with friends (two of them were also hit). Five men who had been playing soccer in HIcksvile but took shelter from the storm under a tree were also hit when lightning struck the tree. Four other were injured during a lightning strike in Cape May, NJ. While a National Weather Service meteorologist told the NY Times, "It was just a stormy day," a National Parks Service spokesman said of the lightning on Sandy Hook, "I’ve been here for 17 years, and it has never occurred on my watch.” more ›

There are severe thunderstorm warnings, watches and advisories in the area right now as storms are moving our way. The Star-Ledger reports a "fast-moving storm" brought lightning that killed a man around noon, and four other people were injured. Five people, playing soccer, were injured during a lightning strike on Long Island. Here are the latest watches, warnings and advisories from the National Weather Service. more ›