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 Jul 23, 8:45 AM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI
945 AM EDT TUE JUL 23 2002
DOPPLER RADAR CURRENTLY SHOWING SHOWERS AFFECTING SOUTH SECTIONS OF
PALM BEACH COUNTY, BROWARD AND MIAMI-DADE. THESE SHOWERS WILL BE OF
SHORT DURATION WITH THE ACTIVITY ENDING BEFORE NOON. 12Z SOUNDING
SHOWING ABOUT THE SAME CONDITIONS AS YESTERDAYS, THOUGH SLIGHTLY
DRIER AT 700 MB. MEAN FLOW BELOW 20K WILL CONTINUE TO BE E-SE AT 8
TO 10 KTS. EXPECT THE LOWER LEVEL FLOW TO BE ENHANCE BY THE EAST
COAST SEA BREEZE LATER TODAY THEREFORE PUSHING THE INITIALIZATION
FOR AFTERNOON CONVECTION FURTHER INLAND WEST OF THE METRO AREAS. ON
THE OTHER HAND...THE WEST COAST COULD SEE MORE ACTIVITY THIS
AFTERNOON AS THE PREVAILING FLOW COULD KEEP THE SEA BREEZE FROM
PENETRATING TOO FAR INLAND ACTING AS A FOCUS FOR AFTERNOON
CONVECTION JUST FEW MILES FROM THE COAST. CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE
LOOKS GOOD AND THE ONLY CHANGES WILL BE TO REMOVE COASTAL SHOWERS
FROM THE EAST COAST.
PREVIOUS FORECAST FOLLOWS
.............................................................
SEE LITTLE REASON FOR SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO PREVIOUS FORECAST
PACKAGE. OVERALL PATTERN CONTINUES RATHER NON-DESCRIPT... WITH THE
BERMUDA HIGH FORECAST TO CONTINUE FROM THE ATLANTIC ACROSS NORTH OR
CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH THE NEXT 48-60 HOURS. 00Z MFL SOUNDING HAD A
PW OF 1.36... K-INDEX OF 19... WITH EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW UP TO
ABOUT 700 MB. THIS FLOW HAD BECOME A BIT SHALLOWER THAN YESTERDAY...
BUT SHOULD STILL BE SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO SHUNT ANY CONVECTION THAT
FORMS OFF TO THE WEST. SO WILL CONTINUE THE TREND OF MAINLY ISOLATED
NIGHT AND MORNING CONVECTION ALONG THE EAST COAST... WITH SCATTERED
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS INTERIOR AND WEST SECTIONS.
MODELS SLOWLY INCREASE MOISTURE ACROSS US... AND SO WILL GO WITH
SLIGHTLY HIGHER POPS FOR WEDNESDAY.
MARINE AND EXTENDED ...LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SOUTHEAST TO
EAST FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIOD... WITH AFTERNOON COASTAL
SEA BREEZES. TROPICAL WAVE MOVING WESTWARD ACROSS HISPANIOLA NOW...
AND FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS OR JUST SOUTH OF SOUTH FLORIDA ON
THURSDAY. CURRENTLY CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE LESS THAN STELLAR ON
SATELLITE LOOPS... BUT AVN AND ETA MODELS FORECAST INCREASING AND
DEEPENING MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA BY THURSDAY ALONG WITH THE
WAVE... WHICH COULD BE IN A MINIMUM CONVECTIVE CYCLE NOW. MRF ALSO
HAS HIGHER POP NUMBERS FOR THAT TIME PERIOD... SO NO REASON NOW TO
BUCK THIS TREND. SLIGHTLY HIGHER POPS (BUT STILL CHANCE CATEGORY)
ALONG WITH NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED.
FIRE WEATHER... NO BASIC PROBLEMS ARE ANTICIPATED.
.CRYSTAL FACE...TODAY SHOULD BE VERY MUCH LIKE MONDAY WITH THE LOW
LEVEL SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW MAKING THE AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP
OVER THE WESTERN EVERGLADES. TOPS TO ABOVE 55K FEET OVER INTERIOR
AND WEST 15Z TO 01Z WITH CIRRUS BLOW OFF TO THE SOUTHWEST UNDER
NORTHEAST WINDS AT 15 TO 25 KTS AT THE 250 MB, HOWEVER WINDS HAVE
INCREASED AT 200MB LEVEL TO 30 TO 40KTS. ANY CIRRUS BLOW OFF FROM
CONVECTION AROUND 30N 70W AND JUST NORTH OF FREEPORT WILL MOVE
RAPIDLY SOUTH-SOUTHWEST ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA THIS AFTERNOON.
PBI BB 090/078 090/078 090 2133
FLL BB 090/079 090/079 090 2133
MIA BB 090/078 090/079 090 2133
APF BT 090/075 090/075 090 4353
.MIA...NONE.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A man and woman visiting from New York were caught in a rip current near 172nd Street. The man drowned and the woman was hospitalized.
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 | 2002-07-23 | 71 | 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, 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: 5304155.