1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 28, 1:55 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 255 PM EDT TUE AUG 28 2001 TOPS WARMING AND PRECIPITATION SLOWLY WANING NORTH OF THE AREA AT TIME. SURFACE TROUGH WILL BE ALIGNED JUST UPSTREAM TODAY AND MAY DRIFT INTO WESTERN CWA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SHOULD ACT AS FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR CONVECTION WITH GOOD MOISTURE DEPTH AND INSTABILITY ALREADY IN PLACE. BEST OMEGA AND SHORT WAVE ENERGY TONIGHT. WILL MAINTAIN A 30 POP TODAY AND BOOST TO 50 POP TONIGHT. ON WEDNESDAY...COLD FRONT WILL BE SITUATED ACROSS CENTRAL NC. MODELS STILL SHOWING DECENT OMEGA ACROSS THE AREA. BUT AIRMASS SLOWLY DRYING AND BECOMING A LITTLE MORE STABLE. WILL INCLUDE A 40 POP. BEYOND WEDNESDAY...BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING A MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW. WEAK IMPULSES MAY IMPINGE ON THE AREA WITHIN THAT FLOW...BUT TIMING IS IMPOSSIBLE. EXPECT MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. CWF...SW WIND 15 KT AND 3 TO 4 FT SEAS CURRENTLY. SW WIND 15 KT AND 3 TO 4 FT SEAS SHOULD HOLD THROUGH WED. SEAS 3 TO 4 FT. FCSTID = 27 ILM 91 73 89 73 / 30 50 40 40 LBT 92 72 90 71 / 30 50 40 40 FLO 93 73 91 72 / 30 50 40 40 MYR 88 73 88 73 / 30 50 40 40 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. DIGIORGI
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a business (body shop) on 1205 Roberts Ave. The resulting fire completely destroyed the building, as well as caused second degree burns to the owner.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 2001
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5263667.