Name: Lightning Strike in Alabama, June 26, 2002
Start: 2002-06-26T05:25
End: 2002-06-26T05:25
Location: Alabama

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 4
Property damage: $40,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jun 26, 2:00 AM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 26, 2:00 AM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
300 AM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS. THROUGH
THURSDAY THE UPPER LOW BECOMES AN ELONGATED TROUGH FROM TX TO OHIO
VALLEY. BY FRIDAY A TROUGH PASSING THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY BRINGS
THE UPPER FLOW MORE TO THE SOUTHWEST. PW REMAINS CONSTANT AT 1.5 TO
2.0 INCHES AND BY FRIDAY THE AREA OF HIGHER MOISTURE IS OVER THE
TN VALLEY AND ORIENTATED EAST AND WEST AS A WEAK TROUGH MOVES INTO
THE NORTH. END RESULT IS NOT MUCH CHANGE. WILL USE CHANCE POPS
TODAY...SLIGHT CHANCE TONIGHT AND CHANCE ON THURSDAY. WILL LEAVE THE
LIKLEY IN THE FORECAST FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY OVER THE NORTH.
WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EXTENDED
THROUGH TUESDAY.

HSV 087/069 085/070 425
BHM 088/071 086/070 425
MGM 089/070 089/071 424

.BHM...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Marion

When: June 26, 5:25 AM CST
Where: Marion County, 7 mi NE of Hamilton
Deaths: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.137, -87.887 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning was believed to be responsible for a fire in a mobile home in the Shiloh community between Hamilton and Hackleburg of SR 187. Three children were killed and two adults and two other children were injured in the fire. The State Fire Marshall said that preliminary investigation indicated the fire started in the general area of the living room around the television. A burn at the base of the utility box outside the home indicated that lightning could have been involved in starting the fire. Time of the event was estimated.

The people who died

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, Marion	2002-06-29	7	Female	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct
Lightning, Marion	2002-06-26	15	Male	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct
Lightning, Marion	2002-06-26	9	Male	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alabama in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, June 2002

Sources

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: 5300678.