Narrative:

Passing 12;000' after takeoff was struck by 2 small and then one very large lightning strikes/static discharges. All appeared to emanate from the radome; up and forward. Very loud and could be felt strongly through the airframe. Captain RA and altimeter fluctuated greatly for several seconds. Then returned to normal. Due the intensity of the strike off of the nose; the structural integrity of the radome and other 'plastic' aircraft parts was of concern; as well as the integrity of the radar and flight instruments.[we] diverted; as I was not going to return back to [departure airport] due the requirement to fly into marginal weather with potentially damaged flight instruments. Landed normally and made maintenance log entry. Numerous damaged areas on airframe and plane was ferried and is still there being repaired. Weather was light to moderate rain and no more than yellow returns on the radar. Light chop.....note; we waited for 2 hours for weather to clear before taking off and ATC as well indicated the area looked ok to fly through. I was informed [another aircraft]; had a lightning strike several minutes before us in the same area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Captain of a Boeing 737 reported that during climb they encountered several lightning strikes and diverted.

Narrative: Passing 12;000' after Takeoff was struck by 2 small and then one very large lightning strikes/static discharges. All appeared to emanate from the radome; up and forward. Very loud and could be felt strongly through the airframe. Captain RA and altimeter fluctuated greatly for several seconds. Then returned to normal. Due the intensity of the strike off of the nose; the structural integrity of the radome and other 'plastic' aircraft parts was of concern; as well as the integrity of the radar and flight instruments.[We] diverted; as I was not going to return back to [departure airport] due the requirement to fly into marginal weather with potentially damaged flight instruments. Landed normally and made maintenance log entry. Numerous damaged areas on airframe and plane was ferried and is still there being repaired. Weather was light to moderate rain and no more than yellow returns on the radar. Light chop.....Note; we waited for 2 hours for weather to clear before taking off and ATC as well indicated the area looked ok to fly through. I was informed [another aircraft]; had a lightning strike several minutes before us in the same area.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.