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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 8:19 AM EST, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 915 AM EDT THU JUL 18 2002 WILL NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST AS THE AREA CAN AGAIN EXPECTED SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS. LOCAL RAOB IS SHOWING PWATER AROUND 2 INCHES AND STEERING WINDS FROM THE EAST AT LESS THAN 10 KNOTS. THUS THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL FROM ON THE SEA BREEZE FRONTS AND DRIFT VERY SLOWLY WEST. WITH THE SLOW MOVEMENT...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS ARE POSSIBLE. WILL ALSO MENTION IN THE FIRST PERIOD HEAT INDEX TEMPERATURES IN THE 100 TO 105 RANGE. ***************PREVIOUS AFD********************** WE HAVE OUR SURFACE RIDGE JUST SOUTH OF OUR AREA AND AN UPPER LOW OVER CUBA AND THE NORTHWEST CARIBBEAN. THE UPPER LOW HAS BEEN MOVING WEST AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO DO SO. THIS SHOULD HELP TO BRING DRIER AIR INTO THE AREA FROM OVER THE ATLANTIC. HOWEVER DO NOT EXPECT THAT TO OCCUR TODAY. SO SHOULD REPEAT AFTERNOON CONVECTION PATTERN WITH AN INCREASE IN PROBABILITIES AS YOU MOVE TO THE WEST COAST. BY FRIDAY THE DRIER AIR SHOULD BE OVER OUR ZONES AND WILL LOWER THE PROBABILITIES. TEMPERATURES WILL HIT SOME UPPER 90S OVER THE INTERIOR. IN THE MARINE AGAIN RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS WITH HOPEFULLY A STEADY SOUTHEAST WIND SETTING UP AS THE SURFACE RIDGE MOVES NORTH OF OUR AREA ON FRIDAY. IN THE EXTENDED IT STILL APPEARS THE MODELS ARE DOING ALL RIGHT. BASICALLY WILL KEEP THE SURFACE RIDGE ABOUT STATIONARY AND THE UPPER RIDGE WILL WEAKEN. ALTHOUGH A TROPICAL WAVE IS SHOWN BY LATE FRIDAY NONE OF THE ANALYZED WAVES FIT THIS PREDICTION. ALSO EVEN THE OBSERVED WAVES ARE ON THE WEAK SIDE. SO WILL IGNORE THIS FACTOR IN THE FORECASTS. THE UPPER TROUGH SHOULD BE BETTER DEFINED BY MID WEEK AND THIS SHOULD HELP KEEP US IN CLIMATE PROBABILITIES. .CRYSTAL FACE...THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG THE METROPOLITAN AREAS IN THE EAST BY MIDDAY. MOST ACTIVE SHOULD MOVE TOWARD THE WEST WITH REDEVELOPMENT ALONG THE GUST FRONTS CONFUSING THIS PATTERN. BY 3PM MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE OVER THE EVERGLADES AND THE WEST COAST. UPPER WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE NORTHEAST AROUND 30 KT SO BLOWOFF WILL BE TO THE SOUTHWEST. TOPS SHOULD BE ABOVE 55K FEET. PBI BB 094/077 091/077 090 4122 FLL BB 091/078 090/080 089 4122 MIA BB 092/078 091/079 090 4122 APF TB 088/075 089/076 089 6231 .MIA...NONE.
FLZ063-066>075-182000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 900 AM EDT THU JUL 18 2002 ...HEAT INDICES OF 100 TO 105 DEGREES OVER INLAND SECTIONS DURING THE AFTERNOON TODAY... ...SLIGHT CHANCE OF WATERSPOUTS OVER THE SOUTH FLORIDA COASTAL WATERS TODAY... ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY... LIGHT WIND FLOW ALONG WITH FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR SHOWERS AND CUMULUS CLOUD DEVELOPMENT WILL PRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR WATERSPOUTS TODAY OVER THE COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTH FLORIDA. THE MOST FAVORABLE LOCATION FOR WATERSPOUT DEVELOPMENT WILL BE BENEATH STATIONARY LINES OF TOWERING CUMULUS CLOUDS...OR AROUND SLOW MOVING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA LATE THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. OVER EAST COAST AREAS...THE STORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP ALONG THE SEABREEZE FRONT A FEW MILES INLAND. THE STORMS WILL SUBSEQUENTLY DRIFT AND PROPAGATE SLOWLY WEST. OUTFLOWS FROM THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY INITIATE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF STORMS OVER THE INTERIOR REGIONS OF SOUTH FLORIDA. THUNDERSTORMS OVER INTERIOR REGIONS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND PROPAGATE TOWARD THE WEST COAST. THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL BE LIGHTNING STRIKES AND MINOR FLOODING WHERE HEAVY DOWNPOURS MOVE SLOWLY. SOME STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. LIGHTNING KILLS AND INJURES MORE PEOPLE IN SOUTH FLORIDA DURING THE MONTH OF JULY THAN ANY OTHER MONTH. PERSONS WHO ARE OUTDOORS SHOULD WATCH FOR THE APPROACH OF LIGHTNING STORMS AND SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY. THE COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDICES OF 100 TO 105 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON OVER ALL AREAS EXCEPT THE IMMEDIATE COASTS. PERSONS INVOLVED IN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AND LIMIT ACTIVITY. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MIA.
The Miami radar (KAMX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:00 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 41-year old man standing in his nursery in Southwest Ranches was injured when lightning struck a timing clock about 30 feet away.
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, July 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: 5304153.