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 29, 10:55 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1155 AM CDT THU AUG 29 2002 TCU FIELD STARTING TO BUILD IN FROM THE EAST. MORNING CHART ANALYSIS SHOWED A WEAK 850-700 MB CIRCULATION OVER THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. NORTH OF THAT...MOISTURE IS BEING PULLED WESTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN ALABAMA. INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IS GETTING STARTED IN AREA OF DIFFERENTIAL HEATING OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AL...AND ALONG SHALLOW SEABREEZE OVER BALDWIN COUNTY EAST THROUGH THE PENSACOLA AREA. STORM MOTIONS TODAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE GENERALLY SLOW TO THE WEST-SOUTHWEST. NO CHANGE TO FORECAST TODAY...BUT WILL UPDATE TO FRESHEN UP WORDING A BIT SHORTLY. 05/GARMON .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A local sports radio station was knocked off the air by a lightning strike to their tower located in Bay Minette. The station was off the air for several hours and it's signal strength was reduced for several days after the strike. The lightning caused part of the transmitter to catch on fire.
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: 5314724.