2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 19, 9:47 AM CST, 2 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1047 AM CDT THU SEP 19 2002 SFC FRONT MOVING ACRS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH A LARGE AREA OF SHRAS/TSRAS MOVING ACRS AR. WL INCREASE POPS TO LIKELY ACRS NE AR AND BOOTHEEL GROUP. ELSEWHERE...POPS LOOK OK FOR NOW. TEMPS MAY BE A LITTLE ON THE WARM SIDE ACRS NE AR BUT A BREAK IN THE PRECIP LATE THIS MORNING MAY HELP LOCATIONS RISE ABOVE 80. POSSIBLY OF SEVERE STORMS CONTINUES FOR LATER TONIGHT WITH APPROACH OF COLD FRONT AND STRONG 500 MB TROF. .MEG...NONE. SJM
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001-007- 008-010>012-020-TNZ001-002-019-048-049-088-200000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1254 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2002 THIS OUTLOOK COVERS WEST TENNESSEE...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...EAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER OVER EAST ARKANSAS... NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...EXTREME WEST TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL FOR TONIGHT. THIS AREA IS GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM UNION CITY THROUGH MEMPHIS TO BATESVILLE. A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL APPROACH THE MID SOUTH TONIGHT THEN MOVE ACROSS THE REGION FRIDAY. SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WARM MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR TO THE MID SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND BECOME MORE NUMEROUS TONIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE TONIGHT WITH THE MAIN THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION TONIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MEG.
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 136 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:19 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
One classroom at an elementary school was flooded.
Six power poles and some trees were blown down.
Several mobile homes were damaged. Some trees were knocked down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, September 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: 5319737, 5319735, 5319736.