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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 8:40 AM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 940 AM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002 UPDATED FCST TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS...PRIMARILY TO COASTAL ZONES. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND CLOUDINESS ALONG THE COAST...ESPECIALLY OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...THIS MORNING. EXPECT THESE TO MOVE INLAND WITH SEA BREEZE...MUCH AS YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. SO WOULD THINK LESS CLOUDINESS AND PCPN NEAR THE COAST THIS AFTERNOON...AS OPPOSED TO MORE COVERAGE. ALSO TWEAKED TEMPS SLIGHTLY ALONG INTERIOR COASTAL ZONES. INLAND ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI ZONES LOOKED GOOD. /12 .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-162000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED FOR RIP CURRENT HAZARD NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1030 AM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002 SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA. MEASURABLE RAIN COVERAGE WILL BE GREATEST LATER THIS AFTERNOON...BUT WILL STILL BE SCATTERED IN NATURE. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT WITH STRONGER STORMS. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS OR SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. THIS MORNINGS RIP CURRENT THREAT ASSESSMENT INDICATED AN INCREASED THREAT OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES. A PERSISTENT LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE ONSHORE FLOW...COMBINED WITH A LARGE TIDAL RANGE AND A FALLING TIDE THIS AFTERNOON...WILL RESULT IN A BETTER LIKLIHOOD OF RIP CURRENTS THIS AFTERNOON. ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTERS FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS WILL NOT BE NECESSARY THROUGH TONIGHT.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-162000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED FOR RIP CURRENT HAZARD NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1030 AM C
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck near a restaurant located close to the airport and injured an employee. The employee was working at the drive through window when lightning hit nearby. The man suffered an electrical shock and was examined at the scene by local medical personnel.
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, August 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: 5314725.