1 heat, 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 17, 1:10 PM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 210 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002 UPPER LOW SHOWING UP ON SATELLITE OVER WESTERN TENNESSEE. THIS IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD THROUGH TOMORROW. SCATTERED PRECIP IS EXPECTED WITH THIS AS IT MOVES CLOSE TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. WILL PROBABLY INCLUDE 20 OR 30 PERCENT EVENING POPS. BASICALLY...EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE IN THE DAY TO DAY FORECASTS THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. WEAK SHORT WAVES WILL TRAVERSE AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. NORTHERN ALABAMA COULD SEE A SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS WITH THIS...BUT NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE POPS. MRF HAS FRONT MOVING INTO ALABAMA OVER THE WEEKEND. NOT CONFIDENT IN THIS SOLUTION. UPPER FLOW REMAINS SOUTHWEST AND PARALLEL TO FRONT...SO DONT SEE ANY REAL PUSH TO GET THE FRONT THROUGH. SHOULD STILL BE CLOSE ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS THIS WEEKEND. PLAN ON LEAVING OUT POPS AREAWIDE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...AND THEN WILL REINTRODUCE THEM FOR THE WEEKEND. TRENDED MORE TOWARDS THE AVN WITH TEMPS. HSV 63/84 63/85 63 22- BHM 63/85 63/85 63 --- MGM 63/86 63/86 63 --- .BHM...NONE. 73
ALZ001>050-171910- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 110 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE PEAK HEATING HOURS OF THE AFTERNOON. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT EXPECTED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
The afternoon high temperature measured at the Huntsville International Airport was 88 degrees. This temperature broke the previous record high of 87 degrees set in 1977.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, April 2002
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: 5292910.