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 Jul 11, 8:35 AM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 935 AM CDT THU JUL 11 2002 LATEST SOUNDING DATA FROM MORNING RELEASE AND LAPS DATA INDICATES A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS ACROSS THE AREA. SURFACE BOUNDARY CONTINUES ACROSS THE CENTRAL SECTIONS OF THE AREA. LOOKING AT THE LATEST RUC DATA...MODEL SHOWS ONE IMPULSE MOVING THROUGH GA AT THE PRESENT TIME AND ANOTHER IMPULSE FORECAST ACROSS THE NRN SECTIONS OF THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. LATEST RADAR DATA SHOWS SHWRS/TSTMS DEVELOPING ALONG OLD BOUNDARY FROM LAST NIGHTS SHWRS AND ALSO WHERE THE CLOUDS/CLEARING LINE EXISTS. SINCE THE CURRENT FORECAST ALREADY HAS LIKELY POPS NORTH/SCATTERED POPS SOUTH...WILL GIVE THE FORECAST A CHANCE TO PLAY OUT AND UPDATE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON IF NECESSARY. .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-111430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 730 AM CDT THU JUL 11 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE AREA TODAY, AND TONIGHT. FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES, AND HEAVY RAIN, WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT IN ALL THUNDERSTORMS. SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG WIND GUSTS, BUT THEY SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY.
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:58 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two homes were struck by lightning in St. Clair County. Both homes had subsequent fires that caused damage. No injuries were reported.
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, July 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: 5306519.