1 thunderstorm wind, 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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 1:15 AM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 215 AM EDT WED SEP 4 2002 COLD FRONT BACK ACROSS EASTERN GREAT LAKES...THROUGH BUF AND CLE...THEIR DEW POINTS ARE IN THE 50S WITH WINDS BEGINNING TO SWING AROUND TO THE NORTHWEST. PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH ACROSS UPSTATE NY AND EASTERN PA. CONVECTION DEVELOPED ACROSS NORTHERN NJ AND THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY OF NEW YORK SINCE STARTED SHIFT. WILL KEEP A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY THUNDERSTORMS IN FOR THIS MORNING. MODELS DIFFER WITH TIMING OF FRONTAL PASSAGE...ETA SLOWEST. GFS HAS BEEN MORE CONSISTENT AND BETTER WITH TIMING RECENTLY SO WILL LEAN THAT WAY. TIMING FOR NYC ABOUT 18Z. FRONT DOES NOT SWEEP ACROSS AREA TODAY. HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO BUILD IN THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL BREAK UP CLOUD COVER WHICH WILL WARM THE ATMOSPHERE UP QUICKLY. HEIGHTS DO NOT BEGIN TO RISE ACROSS LOCAL AREA UNTIL THURSDAY WHEN UPPER TROF OVER THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES FINALLY SHIFTS OFF TO EAST. RIDGE WILL BE IN CONTROL. EXCEPT FOR WEAK UPPER WAVE WHICH IS PROGGED TO PASS OVER LOCAL AREA SATURDAY...ONLY SOME CLOUDS WOULD BE EXPECTED. MARINE...WINDS AND WAVES SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA THROUGH 5 DAY PERIOD. CT...NONE. NY...NONE. NJ...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Stamford Police reported numerous trees and power lines down from severe winds produced by a line of thunderstorms that moved through during the pre-dawn hours. Northeast Utilities reported that over 40,000 customers experienced a power interruption as a result of these storms.
The Stamford Police Department, as well as several newspapers, reported large tree limbs, power lines and fires as a result of lightning strikes. One such fire severely damaged a barn on James Farm Road. Connecticut Light and Power reported that approximately 43,000 of its customers lost power as a result of wires downed when lightning struck equipment or trees, which in turn fell onto wires.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Connecticut in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, 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: 5320413, 5320414.