1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Dec 19, 5:52 PM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
552 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002
TORNADO WATCH 794 EXPIRED AND ZONES ARE UPDATED TO REMOVE
HEADLINES AND SEVERE WORDING. TORNADO WATCH 795 CONTINUES IN EFFECT
UNTIL 9 PM FOR ALL REMAINING COUNTIES AS DESCRIBE IN WWA BELOW.
/77
PRELIM NUMBERS...
MOB...
AL...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9 PM ALZ057-058-060.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY OUT TO 60 NM INCLUDING MOBILE BAY.
FL...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9 PM FLZ001>006
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY OUT TO 60 NM.
MS...NONE.ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-192100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1025 AM CST THU DEC 19 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .TODAY INTO TONIGHT... ...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING NUMEROUS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION. ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES. LIFTED INDEX INDICATES STABILITY WAS MODERATE AS OF THIS MORNING...BUT THE VERTICAL WIND PROFILE AND CONVECTIVE ENERGY AVAILABILITY INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING WITH DYNAMIC FORCING. TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN THIS SITUATION AS WELL AS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. THE PRECIPITATION WILL END OVERNIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES TO BE THE GREATEST OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA DURING THE EVENING HOURS. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...STORM SPOTTERS AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .FRIDAY THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY... DRY AND SOMEWHAT COOLER CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...BUT ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY ACCOMPANIED BY SCATTERED SHOWERS. DRY AND COOLER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE REGION FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY IN THE WAKE OF THIS NEXT FRONT. YET ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THROUGH THE REGION ON TUESDAY WITH DRY CONDITIONS RETURNING FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY.
ALZ051-052-061-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-200000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 525 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002 ...PARTS OF TORNADO WATCH NO. 794 HAVE BEEN CANCELLED... TORNADO WATCH NO. 794 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES: WAYNE GEORGE GREENE PERRY STONE TORNADO WATCH NO. 794 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING ALABAMA COUNTIES: CHOCTAW MOBILE INLAND WASHINGTON DUE TO A FRONT PUSHING THOUGH THE AREA...THE ATMOSPHERE HAS STABLIZED OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI FROM CITRONELLE NORTHWESTWARD. AS A RESULT...CONVECTION HAS BEEN DECREASING. FORECASTERS EXPECT THE REMAINING PRECIPITATION TO WEAKEN AND STRONGER STORMS TO MOVE EAST OUT OF THE AREA THE REST OF THIS EVENING. 77
ALZ059-FLZ001>006-200115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 648 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002 AT 648 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTH OF BREWTON IN ESCAMBIA COUNTY ALABAMA TO NEAR PERDIDO KEY ALONG THE COAST OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA. THIS LINE WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL PUSH ACROSS EASTERN ESCAMBIA COUNTY ALABAMA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTY FLORIDA THROUGH 745 PM THIS EVENING. STORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINE WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL...WIND GUST TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. RESIDENTS IN THE PATH OF THIS LINE SHOULD REMIAN INDOORS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK COVER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees along State Highway 97 near Clearview.
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, December 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: 5326849.