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 Jun 4, 1:56 PM CST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 256 PM CDT TUE JUN 04 2002 WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY WAS DEPICTING FOUR MAIN VORTICES OVER THE DOMAIN...ONE OVER NEW MEXICO...ONE OVER NORTH DAKOTA...ONE OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO...AND THE LAST ONE WELL EAST OF FLORIDA. FORECAST MODELS INDICATE THE NORTHERN TROF OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL SHEAR OFF FROM THE TROF OVER NEW MEXICO...AND RACE SOUTHEAST. THIS WILL RESULT IN AN EASTERN U.S. TROF THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. UPPER-LEVEL LOW OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO WILL PROBABLY MOVE VERY LITTLE THROUGH FRIDAY. AVIATION MODEL HAS THE TRAILING TROF OVER NEW MEXICO MOVING OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY LATER THIS WEEKEND. OBVIOUSLY...THE AIR MASS OVER FORECAST AREA WILL REMAIN MOIST AND UNSTABLE THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. A FRONT SHOULD HELP KICK OFF THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH ALABAMA ON THURSDAY...BUT IT APPEARS RIGHT NOW THAT THE FRONT WILL RETREAT BACK TO THE NORTH FRIDAY NIGHT. CURRENT CONVECTION...SOME SEVERE...WAS AFFECTING MAINLY SOME OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES. STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST. EXPECT THIS CONVECTION TO SHOW SOME WESTWARD DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. CROSS TOTALS AND TOTAL TOTALS OFF THE MESOETA MODEL IMPLY BETTER COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH ALABAMA EARLY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND FORECAST AREA WIDE BY LATE AFTERNOON. HSV 71/92/70/83/68 25354 BHM 72/92/71/86/68 25353 MGM 72/92/71/88/70 25353 .BHM...NONE. 70
ALZ001>050-042003- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CDT TUE JUN 4 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE HIGH PRESSURE THAT HAS BEEN ANCHORED OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST TODAY IN RESPONSE TO AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL CAUSE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY FROM A LINE OF TUSCALOOSA...TO BIRMINGHAM...TO ANNISTON...AND SOUTH. ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED. ALTHOUGH NO ORGANIZED HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED...IF A THUNDERSTORMS DOES DEVELOP...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SOME SMALL HAIL WILL POSSIBLE OCCUR. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS UNLIKELY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL FACTOR: HUNTSVILLE IS 0 BIRMINGHAM IS 0 MONTGOMERY IS 0
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A seven year old girl was struck by lightning inside the Cheaha State Park grounds. She suffered minor injuries. One home was also struck by lightning near the park and minor damage occurred.
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, June 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: 5300515.