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 22, 1:39 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 239 PM CDT MON JUL 22 2002 UPPER LOW ACROSS PORTIONS OF GEORGIA WILL SLOWLY MOVE TO THE WEST TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AND GRADUALLY WEAKEN. FRONT ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES IS FORECAST TO DROP SOUTHEAST AND APPROACH THE AREA TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. AT THIS POINT BELIEVE THAT THE FRONT WILL FALL APART BEFORE REACHING THE AREA. HOWEVER...MODELS SHOW AN IMPULSE DROPPING FROM THE GREAT LAKES SOUTHWARD INTO THE AREA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THEN LINGERING ACROSS THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE AREA ON THURSDAY. FOR TONIGHT...BELIEVE THAT MUCH OF THE TSTM ACTIVITY WILL GO AWAY AS WE LOOSE THE HEATING OF THE DAY. POPS WILL BE BASED ON LATEST RADAR JUST BEFORE RELEASE TIME. SCATTERED POPS FOR THE ENTIRE AREA ON TUESDAY...THEN CONTINUED SCATTERED POPS NORTH TUESDAY NIGHT WITH LOWER POPS TOWARDS THE SOUTH. WITH IMPULSE/VORT MAX MOVING INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND LINGERING THURSDAY...WILL CONTINUE WITH SCATTERED POPS EACH DAY. LOOKING TOWARDS THE WEEKEND...BELIEVE THAT SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD INTO THE AREA ON FRIDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. LOOKS LIKE WE CAN BROADBRUSH THE FORECAST WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS/TSTMS EACH DAY. HSV 71/90/72/89/71 2535 BHM 71/90/72/90/72 2535 MGM 72/92/72/92/72 2525 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-DDHHMM- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 126 PM CDT MON JUL 22 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA... THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS MOIST AND UNSTABLE ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ...WITH PEAK INTENSITY AND COVERAGE OCCURRING DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. SOME OF THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REACH STRONG TO SEVERE THRESHOLDS...WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND GUSTY WINDS. ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. DUE TO ISOLATED NATURE OF THE STORMS...ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL FACTOR: HUNTSVILLE...5 BIRMINGHAM...5 MONTGOMERY...5
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Three homes were struck by lightning across Madison County. Minor damage was 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: 5306611.