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 30, 1:43 PM CST, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 243 PM CDT FRI AUG 30 2002 STAGNANT PATTERN CONTINUES...WITH BROAD TROUGH LINGERING OVERHEAD... BERMUDA RIDGE TO THE EAST...AND CONTINENTAL RIDGE TO THE WEST. FORECAST ISSUE ONCE AGAIN POPS IN THE SHORT TERM...TEMPS TO A LESSOR EXTENT. IN SPITE OF APPEARING TO HANDLE THE EAST COAST SYNOPTIC SITUATION THE BEST...AVN MOS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES PRECIP...AND POPS OVER OUR AREA FOR THE WEEKEND. THIS SEEMS RATHER INCONSISTENT WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE MODELS...INCLUDING ETA...NGM...GEM AND MM5. SOURCE OF DIFFERENCE COULD BE EASTERLY WAVE SEEN ON SATELLITE NOW EAST OF BAHAMAS...WHICH IS DEPICTED RATHER CLEARLY IN THE ETA MODEL. ETA PROFILES SHOW LITTLE CHANGE IN PRECIPITABLE WATER...AND CROSS SECTIONS ALSO REVEAL PERSISTENT MOISTURE LAYER...ALL THIS WITH MINIMAL DYNAMICS. SO...WHEREAS MAV GOES FOR LIKELY POPS SAT AND SUN...WILL HOLD US DOWN TO A LOW DIURNAL CHANCE (30) MOST LOCATIONS...WITH MID CHANCE (40) FOR THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES. BEYOND SUNDAY...HINTS OF A BIT OF A TRANSITION IN THE WORKS...AS BERMUDA RIDGE BREAKS DOWN AND STRONG TROUGH DIGS IN THE WEST COAST. EXTENDED AVN HINTS AT POTENTIAL TROPICAL SYSTEM IN THE WESTERN GULF...AND THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC WILL ALSO NEED TO BE WATCHED. THAT SAID...WONT GET TOO FANCY...BUT SEEMS TO BE A GRADUAL DECREASE IN POPS FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. WILL PULL BACK TO ISOLATED POPS FOR ALL BUT SOUTHERNMOST COUNTIES...AND KEEP TEMPS JUST ABOVE CLIMO. TEMPERATURES AND POPS...AS DISCUSSED ABOVE...UNDERCUTTING MAV AND FWC ON THE POPS DURING THE DAY...GOING TOWARDS LOWER MAV FOR THE OVERNIGHTS. TEMPERATURES BLENDED TO AGREE WITH FORECAST CLOUD COVER...GOING AT OR ABOVE GUIDANCE LOWS MOST INSTANCES. 81 PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... HSV 68 87 68 87 / 10 20 20 30 BHM 71 88 71 87 / 10 30 20 30 MGM 71 87 72 87 / 20 40 20 40 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-302000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 113 PM CDT FRI AUG 30 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN DEVELOP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAINS...AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...BUT NO WIDESPREAD OR ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE AFTER SUNSET. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL FACTOR: HUNTSVILLE...3 BIRMINGHAM...2 MONTGOMERY...2
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two separate house fires were initiated by lightning. One of the fires caused significant structural damage and also destroyed an automobile. In the second instance, the lightning bolt hit a tree next to the structure, and both caught on fire. No injuries were reported in either event.
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: 5312441.