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 29, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 300 PM CDT MON JUL 29 2002 WELL I LIKE THE HANDLING OF SOME FEATURES ON THE AVN...AND OTHERS ON THE ETA. OVERALL...SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES ARE FEW. WESTERLIES HANG AROUND THE US/CAN BORDER AREA BUT TAKE A DIP SOUTH TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK. TWO FEATURES OF INTEREST TO NOTE...UPPER TROUGH NW OF CWFA...AND UPPER LOW IN VICINITY OF THE FL KEYS. BOTH MODELS INDICATE VERY SLOW PROGRESSION OF THESE FEATURES AND PHASING TAKES PLACE IN THE 54-66 HR TIME FRAME RIGHT OVER US. UNTIL THEN...BOUNDARY LAYER REMAINS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE...WITH PRECIP WATER VALUES HANGING AROUND 2 INCHES AND DEW POINTS LOW TO MID 70S. WITH THE UPPER SUPPORT NEAR THE AREA THE NEXT TWO DAYS...POPS WILL BE 50-60 AREAWIDE AND WILL HOLD ONTO NIGHTTIME POPS AS WELL. OF ADDITIONAL NOTE...KEY WEST RADAR SHOWS SOME CONVECTION AROUND A CYCLONIC FLOW IN THE FAR SOUTHEASTERN GULF AND SURFACE REFLECTION MAY BE FORMING. CONFIDENCE IN FORECAST GOES DOWN IF TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT TAKES PLACE IN THE NORTHERN GULF. LOOKING INTO THE EXTENDED CRYSTAL BALL...WHAT DO WE SEE FROM THIS PARTICULAR PACKAGE? LONG RANGE MODELS GENERALLY AGREE THAT LARGE FLAT MID TO UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BECOMES MORE AMPLIFIED ACROSS THE EASTERN CONUS. CENTER OF RIDGE POSITIONED JUST NORTH OF THE CWFA. EXACT PLACEMENT OF HIGH WILL DETERMINE WHERE POPS ARE BEST. WEAKNESS/SHEAR AXIS AND UPPER LOW SLOWLY PHASE AND KEEP WEAKNESS IN RIDGE ALONG THE GULF COAST. ATTM...DEEPEST MOISTURE PUSHES INTO THE SOUTHERN CWA BY SAT AS DEEP EASTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS. BEST RAIN CHANCES WILL BE SOUTH CWFA AND ALREADY MENTIONED IN CURRENT ZONE ISSUANCE. 1000-850 THCKNS VALUES DROP FROM WHAT THEY ARE NOW BUT MEAN HUMIDITY ALSO DROPS OFF QUITE A BIT ACROSS N HALF. TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN IN THE LOWER 90S OR SO NORTH WITH TEMPS SOUTH DEPENDANT ON CLOUD COVER AND RAIN BUT AROUND 90. 1ST PERIOD POPS WILL BE A LAST MINUTE DECISION...BUT EXPECT BEST COVERAGE DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. PRELIM NUMBERS... HSV TB 073/089 072/090 070/091 75263423 BHM TT 074/091 073/089 072/090 75353534 MGM TT 073/092 073/092 072/091 75453535 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-291930- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 130 PM CDT MON JUL 29 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA... TYPICAL SUMMERTIME WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. DURING THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON...ONLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...WHICH COULD LAST INTO THE EVENING HOURS. ANY INDIVIDUAL STORM MAY BRIEFLY GROW STRONG ENOUGH TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS AND PRODUCE HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS. NO WIDESPREAD OR ORGANIZED AREAS OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP SHOULD DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. PLEASE REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE STORM TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL FACTOR: HUNTSVILLE...4 BIRMINGHAM...3 MONTGOMERY...3
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:32 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A two-year-old boy was struck by lightning and eventually died from the injuries. The injury occurred as the boy was outside helping his family in the garden about 4.5 miles west of Oneonta.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Blount | 2002-07-29 | 2 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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: 5306614.