Hurricane Lili (2002)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 21, 2002 to October 4, 2002

Peak strength

Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)

Lowest pressure

938 mb (27.70 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

16.5

Tropical-storm-force wind reached

170 nmi (315 km, 196 mi) from the center at its widest

Eyewall radius at its peak

8 nmi (15 km, 9 mi)

Overall size

200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar

Fastest the center moved

27 kt (31 mph)

Identifier

AL132002

Radar at KLCH as it neared land, Oct 3, 13:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

3

Property damage

$533 million

Crop damage

$168 million

Events recorded

130 in 18 reports from 8 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

63 hurricane (typhoon), 17 high wind, 15 tornado, 14 thunderstorm wind, 8 tropical storm, 4 flash flood, 4 flood, 4 funnel cloud, 1 marine thunderstorm wind.

15 tornadoes recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 972 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 8.40 inches (213 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

A line of thunderstorms associated with a feeder band well east of tropical storm Lili produced wind gusts to 36 knots at a COMPS buoy.

Tarpon Springs To Suwannee River Fl 20 To 60nm, Gulf of Mexico · Marine Thunderstorm Wind · Sep 26, 17:00 UTC

Swells and high tides associated with the presence of Hurricane Lili in the Gulf of Mexico, produced coastal flooding along the shores of South Padre Island. Tides ran 1 to 2 feet above high tide levels.

Cameron, Texas · Flood · Oct 3, 06:00 UTC

A National Weather Service survey found a few trees down in southwest Scott County about 7 miles south of Morton. There had also been a public sighting of this tornado which was produced by the same mesocyclone that generated the tornado in northwest Smith County a few minutes earlier.

Scott, Mississippi · Tornado · Oct 3, 20:22 UTC

A National Weather Service Survey discovered at least 20 trees down in northern Smith County about 3 miles northeast of Raleigh. Some of the trees destroyed were quite large, including two which were located on the edge of a cemetery near a small church. Other structures at the cemetery were east of the damage path and were undamaged.

Smith, Mississippi · Tornado · Oct 3, 20:59 UTC

The tornado moved across extreme southeast Grant Parish along the northeast eye wall of Tropical Storm Lili. Damage was confined to rural timberland approximately 2 miles northeast of the Camp Beauregard Wildlife Management Area or just between the Management Area and the Little River of extreme southeast Grant Parish. Small and moderate pines were snapped and pushed over.

Grant, Louisiana · Tornado · Oct 3, 21:52 UTC

The tornado moved into extreme southern La Salle Parish from Grant Parish along the northeast eye wall of Tropical Storm Lili. Damage was confined to rural timberland approximately 2 miles northeast of the Camp Beauregard Wildlife Management Area or just between the Management Area and the Little River of extreme southeast Grant Parish. Small and moderate pines were snapped and pushed over.

La Salle, Louisiana · Tornado · Oct 3, 21:56 UTC

• Tropical Storm ArthurNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm50 kt · 992 mb
• Tropical Storm BerthaNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm35 kt · 1007 mb
• Tropical Storm CristobalNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm45 kt · 999 mb
• Tropical Storm DollyNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm50 kt · 997 mb
• Tropical Storm EdouardNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm55 kt · 1002 mb
• Tropical Storm FayNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm50 kt · 998 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Depression30 kt · 1013 mb
• Hurricane GustavNorth Atlantic · 2002Cat 285 kt · 960 mb
• Tropical Storm HannaNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm50 kt · 1001 mb
• Hurricane IsidoreNorth Atlantic · 2002Cat 3110 kt · 934 mb
• Tropical Storm JosephineNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Storm50 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane KyleNorth Atlantic · 2002Cat 175 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2002Tropical Depression30 kt · 1002 mb

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Lili