1 rip current, 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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 11:08 PM EST, 13 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 1208 AM EDT WED AUG 21 2002 CURRENTLY, WATER VAPOR LOOP INDICATES TUTT LOW VICINITY ANDROS ISLAND AND 88-D AT THE MOMENT CLEAR AS SOME DRIER AIR/SUBSIDENCE POSSIBLY HAS MOVED OVER AREA. DIVERGENT FLOW AROUND THE UPPER SYSTEM EXPECTED TO CREATE ATLC SHOWERS TOWARD MORNING. WELL SEE. MODELS SIMILAR AGAIN. BROAD RIDGE ALONG GULF COAST STATES AND OVER N FLA NEXT 48 HOURS WITH TUTT LOW TRAPPED UNDER SE POTION OF RIDGE AND WIND CIRCULATION ABOUT HIGH SHOULD TAKE LOW SW TOWARD S FLA WITH SYSTEM HANGING AROUND AREA NEXT 48 HOURS. AT SURFACE, A RIDGE ACROSS CENTRAL FLA BEGINS TO SLOWLY DRIFT NORTHWARD AS TROUGH FROM ATLC SW TO TO SE U.S. N OF FLA FILLS AS HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS ALONG THE ATLC SEA BOARD. FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS ( USING GUIDANCE TRENDS THE PAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS AND 18Z DATA TODAY AS NCF HAVING TROUBLE SHIPPING OUT 00Z BASED GUIDANCE), MODELS INDICATE SOME MINOR THICKNESS DECREASE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS LEADING SLIGHTLY COOLER SURFACE TEMPS. WITH A CONTINUED LIGHT E TO SE WIND FLOW, SEA BREEZES WILL OCCUR BOTH COASTS AND WITH UPPER WIND DIVERGENCE CREATED BY TUTT AND POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS ALOFT ENHANCING INSTABILITY SLIGHTLY, WILL UP POPS A SMIDGE E COAST FROM CURRENT PACKAGE BUT KEEP REMAINDER OF S FLA SAME. MODEL OF CHOICE REMAINS AVN AS TUTT LOW HANDLED BEST LAST FEW RUNS. ETA WANTS SYSTEM TO CROSS S FLA FURTHER N AS NOTED IN PROJECTED ETA ROABS WITH THE STEERING FLOW REVERSING TO SW ON THU. RIGHT NOW DISCOUNTING THIS BUT SOMETHING TO WATCH. IN THE EXTENDED, ANY INFLUENCE OF TUTT LOW TO S FLA WEAKENS AND DISSIPATES FRIDAY BUT A WEAK TROPICAL WAVE DOES MOVE W AND AT THIS TIME PROBABLY S OF AREA IN CARIB. RIDGE ACROSS GULF COAST STATES AND OVER N FLA BEGINS TO WEAKEN AS A BROAD TROUGH BEGINS TO CARVE OUT OVER NEW ENGLAND AND THE MID ATLC STATES. THE SURFACE RIDGE WELL NORTH OF THE AREA RETREATS S SOME AGAIN IN RESPONSE TO A SURFACE TROUGH MOVING SE ALONG THE SE U.S. COAST MON NIGHT BUT NOT MAKING IT S OF 30N. SO, LITTLE CHANGE TO CURRENT EXTENDED PACKAGE. IN THE MARINE ZONES, CONTINUED E TO SE WIND FLOW OF 10 KNOTS OR LESS WITH SEA BREEZE DEVELOPMENT EACH DAY. NO PROBLEMS ANTICIPATED FIRE WEATHER. CCF TEMPS MAY CHANGE IF GUIDANCE COMES/SHOWS ANY SIGNIFICANT JUMPS. PBI TT 089/076 089/076 090 1553524 FLL TT 089/078 088/078 089 1553524 MIA TT 089/077 089/077 090 1553524 APF TT 089/074 089/075 090 1553525= .MIA...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A man drowned in a rip current on Miami Beach at 5th Street.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Miami-Dade | 2002-08-21 | 22 | Male | In Water | Direct |
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: 5308101.