1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Jul 27, 9:15 AM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1015 AM EDT SAT JUL 27 2002 MORNING SOUNDINGS REVEAL ATMOSPHERE A LITTLE MORE STABLE THAN 24 HOURS AGO DUE TO MID LEVEL WARMING OF ABOUT 2 DEGREES C. GREATEST INSTABILITY OVER THE INTERIOR AND DRIER AIR AT MID/UPPER LEVELS WORKING ONSHORE FROM THE ATLANTIC. HOWEVER...WITH FULL DAYTIME HEATING THIS MORNING...INITIAL CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT HAS ALREADY BEGUN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF MELBOURNE. MODIFIED SB CAPES FOR THE INTERIOR LATE TODAY SUGGEST NEAR 3500 J/KG WITH LI VALUES NEAR MINUS 7. EXPECT GREATEST COVERAGE AND A FEW STRONG STORMS WITH EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING OVER THE FAR INTERIOR WHERE GREATEST BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS OCCUR LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. MESO-ETA SUGGESTS BOUNDARY MERGER SHOULD OCCUR SIMILAR TO LOCATIONS AFFECTED FRIDAY...FROM NEAR LAKE GEORGE TO EXTREME WEST ORANGE COUNTY TO LAKE COUNTY. WEAK S/SW STEERING FLOW SHOULD ALLOW RESIDUAL ACTIVITY TO DRIFT A BIT EAST AFTER COLLISION...ESPECIALLY VOLUSIA COUNTY AND POSSIBLY NORTH BREVARD COUNTY. ZFP POP DISTRIBUTION LOOKS EXCELLENT - NO UPDATE PLANNED. MARINE...LIGHT S/SW GRADIENT FLOW WITH RIDGE AXIS ACROSS CENTRAL WATERS WILL ALLOW ATLANTIC SEA BREEZES TO FORM AROUND MID DAY. CURRENT CWF LOOKS FINE. .MLB...NONE. PUBLIC/MARINE...SPRATT AVIATION/FIRE WX...VOLKMER
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 272100- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1054 AM EDT SAT JUL 27 2002 ...SCATTERED LIGHTNING STORMS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON... AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO CENTRAL FLORIDA TODAY. THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE WILL FORM AROUND MID DAY AND MOVE INLAND...MAKING FASTER PROGRESS SOUTH OF CAPE CANAVERAL. A FEW LIGHTNING STORMS WILL DEVELOP NEAR INTERSTATE 95 BY EARLY AFTERNOON. WITH LIGHT WINDS...STRONG HEATING...AND PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...A FEW FUNNEL CLOUDS MAY FORM NEAR SHOWERS AND STORMS THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS ALREADY OBSERVED NORTH OF OKEECHOBEE TOWN THIS MORNING. STORM MOTION TODAY WILL BE GENERALLY NORTH AT 10 MPH. ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL OCCUR OVER THE INTERIOR DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE GREATEST COVERAGE OF STORMS WILL BE DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING AS NUMEROUS BOUNDARIES COLLIDE...PRIMARILY ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 4. A FEW STRONG STORMS WITH EXCESSIVE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES...WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 45 MPH AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A PERSON WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING ON FRIDAY WHILE OPERATING A JET SKI IN LAKE COUNTY. REMEMBER TO TAKE SHELTER AT THE FIRST SIGN OF A DEVELOPING STORM... EVEN IF THE THUNDER IS DISTANT. THE STRONGER AND SLOWER MOVING STORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE 2 TO 3 INCH DOWNPOURS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME...MAINLY LATE TODAY FROM LAKE GEORGE TO WESTERN ORANGE COUNTY AND LAKE COUNTY. SUCH A QUICK RAINFALL ACCUMULATION WILL LIKELY RESULT IN CONSIDERABLE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. OVER THE MARINE AREA...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON...WITH COVERAGE DECREASING TO ISOLATED DURING THE AFTERNOON. A FEW WATERSPOUTS WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR SOME OF THE SHOWERS AND STORMS. TO VIEW THE GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV...AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FROM THE MAP. SPRATT
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:03 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
An F1 tornado touched down in Ft. Pierce and remained nearly stationary for about one minute. It destroyed the service bay roof of a car dealership, and damaged 70 cars.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2002Warnings 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: 5311995.