On this date in 2004, a U.S. State Department employee was critically injured when he was struck by lightning after sheltering beneath a tree near the Lincoln Memorial.
“The lightning hit the man in the stomach shortly after 5:30 p.m. and exited through his right foot, briefly knocking him unconscious,” The Washington Post reported.
Heavy storms swept through the D.C. area that afternoon and evening, unleashing lightning and “dropping as much as an inch of rain an hour in some areas and causing flash flooding in Northern Virginia, the District and Maryland,” The Post reported.
Reagan National Airport recorded 0.76 inches of rain.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 86
- Average low: 68
- Record high: 99 (2022)
- Record low: 50 (1926)
- Record rainfall: 2.22 inches (1878)
