4 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
900 AM PDT MON MAY 20 2002
COLD CORE UPPER LOW JUST OFF THE NORCAL COAST. THIS LOW WILL BEGIN
TO OPEN UP AND MOVE NE TODAY AND TONIGHT. TROF AXIS WILL MOVE ACROSS
CENTRAL CA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. MORNING OAK SOUNDING QUITE UNSTABLE
WITH AN LI OF -3...CAPE OF 405...K-INDEX 29...AND TOTAL TOTALS AN
IMPRESSIVE 58. A FEW T-STORMS HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED DURING THE
NIGHT...AND SHOULD INCREASE IN COVERAGE AS DAYTIME HEATING
CONTINUES. WET BULB ZERO IS ONLY 5100 FEET...SO EXPECT ANY T-STORMS
TO PRODUCE HAIL. CONVECTION WILL ALSO PRODUCE BURSTS OF VERY HEAVY
SNOW HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SRN SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVE...SO
WINTER STORM WARNING/ADVISORY ON TRACK. CURRENT FCSTS LOOK GOOD AND
NO UPDATED NEEDED AT THIS TIME. BINGHAM
.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE 4500 FEET FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE TULARE
COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE 5500 FEET
...WIND ADVISORY FOR KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS
AFTERNOON THROUGH 9:00 PM...The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:30 UTC.
4 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning strikes (2) in close proximity to overhead aircraft approaching Fresno Air Terminal.
Three lightning strikes were reported in and around the Bullard High School campus.
Structure fire due to lightning hit.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 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: 5290967, 5290969, 5290966, 5290968.