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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 9:55 AM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 1055 AM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 CURRENT RADAR LOOP INDICATES A FEW SHOWERS DEVELOPING ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. SEVERAL CELLS ARE LOCATED NEAR UPPER LEVEL VORT MAX DEPICTED BY RUC TO BE MOVING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. COVERAGE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OF SOUTH OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AREA AS ADVERTISED BY CURRENT FORECAST. HAVE TWEAKED TEMPERATURES UP SLIGHTLY...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS. OTHERWISE CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK. UPDATED ZONES OUT SHORTLY. .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-191430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 730 AM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. A WARM...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN OVER THE FORECAST AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS A RESULT...SCATTERED AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP... AND LAST INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. WHILE NO ORGANIZED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENTS ARE ANTICIPATED...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY REACH STRONG TO SEVERE LIMITS...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING THE MAIN CONCERNS. ACTIVATION OF MULTIPLE STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL GROUPS SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two homes were struck by lightning and received minor damage. One tree was knocked down due to a lightning strike.
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: 5313501.