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 30, 1:49 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 249 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2002 FORECAST QUANDARIES ARE HIGH TEMPS TOMORROW AND THURSDAY...AND POPS FOR TOMORROW. THE ETA AND AVN ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH FRI AT 00Z. IT APPEARS THAT ALABAMA WILL BE SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE WAVE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND INTO SOUTHEAST ALABAMA AND SOUTHWEST GEORGIA TOMORROW...AND THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT EXTENDS FROM THE GREAT LAKES...AND INTO TEXAS...THAT WILL MOVE OVER THE FORECAST AREA LATE TOMORROW NIGHT. THE MOISTURE FROM BOTH OF THOSE SYSTEMS WILL MEAN LIKELY POPS FOR OUR AREA ON WEDNESDAY. WITH UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT...FORECAST LI/S EXPECTED TO BE IN THE -6 OR GREATER RANGE...CAPES 3000+...SHOULD SEE STRONG TO ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS OVER OUR AREA TOMORROW. ESPECIALLY IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE DAYTIME HEATING. PW/S ARE AT OR NEAR 2 INCHES THROUGH TOMORROW. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF ISOLATED HEAVY RAINS OCCUR...ESPECIALLY OVER AREAS WHERE THUNDERSTORMS TRAIN. ON THURSDAY...EXPECT CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE AREA AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES SOUTH. MODELS SHOW A DRYING TREND FOR THE WEEKEND WITH POPS INCREASING AGAIN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. WILL GO WITH RADAR TRENDS FOR THIS EVENING POPS. EXPECT TO BREAK THE EAST CENTRAL ZONE OUT AND GO SLIGHTLY THERE. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES ONLY. HSV TB 072/089 071/088 072 363- BHM TB 073/090 072/089 072 4632 MGM TE 072/090 072/090 072 3632 .BHM...NONE. 80
ALZ001>050-301930- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 129 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA... A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE RESIDES ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS WILL NOT CHANGE MUCH THROUGH WEDNESDAY...ALLOWING SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THE BEST COVERAGE OF STORMS WILL BE DURING THE MAXIMUM HEATING OF THE LATE AFTERNOONS. THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND GUSTY WINDS. ALTHOUGH SOME ISOLATED STORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE INTENSITIES...MOST ACTIVITY WILL BE NON SEVERE AND NO ORGANIZED STORMS ARE EXPECTED. 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. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL FACTOR: HUNTSVILLE...3 BIRMINGHAM...3 MONTGOMERY...3
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:16 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
One person was struck by lightning in Tuscaloosa and had sustained minor injuries.
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: 5306618.