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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 9:10 AM EST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1010 AM EDT TUE AUG 20 2002 BASED ON MORNING SOUNDINGS (PWATS 1.8 - 2.0 INCHES)...CURRENT CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY NEAR THE FLORIDA WEST COAST AND LOW LVL WIND FLOW REGIME WILL INCREASE POPS TO 50 PCT FOR THE NRN INTERIOR. WILL ALSO INCREASE POPS TO 40 PCT FOR SRN BREVARD/INDIAN RIVER COUNTIES. MAIN CONCERN OF THE DAY IS HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT AND LOCALIZED FLOODING. AREAS FROM SANFORD NORTH TO DELAND...SAW 2.0-2.5 INCHES YESTERDAY ACCORDING TO DOPPLER RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES. THIS AREA SHOULD AGAIN SEE MORE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. VIL OF THE DAY BASED ON MORNING SOUNDINGS MFL - 58...XMR - 68...TBW - 63. COULD SEE A FEW PULSE STORMS WITH BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS AND ALONG THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE AS WELL. MARINE...CURRENT COASTAL WATERS IN GOOD SHAPE...MAY ADD LATE DAY STORMS NEAR THE COAST ACROSS SRN LEG...NORTH OF SEBASTIAN INLET. .MLB...NONE. PUBLIC/MARINE...VOLKMER AVIATION/FIRE WX...SPRATT
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 202101- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1055 AM EDT TUE AUG 20 2002 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING... SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...DAYTIME HEATING...AND THE EAST AND WEST COAST SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES WILL ALLOW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE HIGHEST COVERAGE OF STORMS IS EXPECTED FROM AROUND METRO ORLANDO TO DAYTONA BEACH DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. OTHER STORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY FROM MARTIN COUNTY NORTHWARD TO VERO BEACH AND MELBOURNE. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THE SLOW MOVING STORMS WILL BE LOCALIZED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. THIS WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF STREETS AND OTHER LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. AREAS FROM SANFORD TO DELAND ARE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOODING...WITH HEAVY RAIN HAVING FALLEN ACROSS THOSE AREAS YESTERDAY. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION SHOULD HEAVY RAINS DEVELOP OR FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED. ISOLATED STRONG STORMS WILL ALSO DEVELOP WITH FREQUENT TO EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING...WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL IN THE STRONGEST STORMS. IF STORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA...HEAD INDOORS INTO A STURDY STRUCTURE IMMEDIATELY. LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE FAR FROM THE PARENT STORM...SO HEAD INDOORS WHEN THUNDER IS HEARD. OVER THE MARINE AREA...SCATTERED STRONG STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE TOWARD THE INTRACOASTAL AND NEARSHORE WATERS NORTH OF CAPE CANAVERAL DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 KNOTS. TO VIEW THE GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS PRODUCT...GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV...AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. VOLKMER
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:42 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started a fire that damaged a carpet store in Edgewater.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 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: 5316910.