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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 1:17 PM EST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED CCF CODES NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 210 PM EDT MON JUL 29 2002 SURFACE WAVE/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT WAS FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH CLEARLY EVIDENT ON SATELLITE IMAGERY. IT HAS BEEN MOVING EAST TO WEST AND IS CURRENTLY CENTERED NEAR EYW. THIS FEATURE IS MUCH BETTER DEFINED IN UPPER LEVELS FROM ABOUT 700 MB AND UP. IN FACT AT THE 200 MB LEVEL THERE IS NO MISTAKE AS TO WHERE IT WAS AT 12Z WHICH HAD IT CENTERED JUST SOUTH OF EYW. SURFACE RIDGE WAS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL FLORIDA JUST NORTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE. THE UPPER TROUGH HAD LOST MOST OF ITS CLOUDINESS DURING THE MORNING SO SURFACE TEMPERATURES HAVE CLIMBED HIGHER THAN HAD BEEN FORECAST. ALSO OUR MORNING SOUNDING HAS SHOWN THE TEMPERATURE AT 500 MB AT -10 CELSIUS SO VERY UNSTABLE. WIND FIELD IS SOUTHEAST ALL THE WAY UP SO ALL CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE NORTHWEST AND INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. MODELS HAVE THE UPPER WAVE CONTINUING TO MOVE NORTHWEST BUT LOSE MUCH OF ITS IDENTITY SO WE COULD STABLIZE A LITTLE FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY BUT STILL PLENTY OF MOISTURE AROUND. AS THIS FEATURE DOES MOVE AWAY FROM SOUTH FLORIDA THE ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL BUILD BACK OVER US. HOWEVER, THE MODELS DO NOT BRING THIS TO BE UNTIL THURSDAY WHICH BEFORE THEY WERE FORECASTING FOR WEDNESDAY. ALSO A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE OFF THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST ON WEDNESDAY WHICH FORCES THE SURFACE RIDGE TO BEGIN MOVING SOUTH AND BE ON TOP OF SOUTH FLORIDA FOR WEDNESDAY. SO THERE MAY BE SOME SLIGHT DECREASE IN POPS FOR WEDNESDAY ESPECIALLY THE EAST COAST. AT ANY RATE, HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS I WILL BUMP UP THE AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES AGAIN WITH THE DECREASED MORNING CLOUDS AND DECREASE THE EVENING POPS FOR THE EAST COAST TONIGHT AND PUT BACK IN LATE NIGHT ISOLATED ACTIVITY. FOR TUESDAY EVENING I WILL BUMP THE EVENING POPS UP TO CHANCE FOR THE EAST COAST WITH THE LIGHTER WIND FIELD. .EXTENDED...ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL SUPPRESS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INTO THE WEEKEND SO BACK TO CLIMO OR JUST BELOW AND THE SURFACE RIDGE REMAINS JUST TO OUR SOUTH. .MARINE...WINDS REMAIN LIGHT SO NO HIGHLIGHTS HERE. WITH THE LIGHT WINDS SHOULD HAVE C-BREEZES THROUGH THE PERIOD. .CRYSTAL FACE...AS UPPER LOW MOVES TO OUR WEST ON TUESDAY AND WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE AROUND SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE INTERIOR AND WEST COAST. ANVILS WILL MOVE OFF TO THE NORTH WITH SOUTHERLY WINDS AT AROUND 30 KNOTS BETWEEN 30 AND 40 THOUSAND FEET. PBI TB 078/090 078/091 077 302534 FLL TB 079/089 078/090 078 302534 MIA TB 078/090 078/091 078 302534 APF TT 075/091 075/091 076 305555 .MIA...NONE.
FLZ063-066>075-291900- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 1156 AM EDT MON JUL 29 2002 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS INTERIOR AND WEST COAST THIS AFTERNOON... ...HEAT INDICES 100 TO 105 MAINLY INTERIOR AREAS THIS AFTERNOON... A TROPICAL WAVE, IN COMBINATION WITH AN UPPER LEVEL LOW, IS MOVING WEST ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH SEA BREEZES AND DIURNAL HEATING TO FURTHER ENHANCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT MAINLY INLAND AREAS WEST OF THE EAST COAST METRO AREAS THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERALLY MOVE FROM THE SOUTHEAST AROUND 10 MPH. THEY WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT LIGHTNING, BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL, SOME WITH GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 MPH, AND ONE OR TWO WITH SMALL HAIL. ALSO, THE COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HUMIDITY THIS AFTERNOON WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDICES FROM 100 TO 105 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON, MAINLY IN THE INTERIOR AREAS AWAY FROM BOTH THE EAST AND WEST COASTS. PERSONS THAT WILL BE OUTDOORS TODAY SHOULD DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AND LIMIT ACTIVITY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MIA. PS
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:36 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado formed along the southeast shore of Lake Okeechobee and moved west northwest. Sporadic damage along the track consisted of a pool enclosure blown into a canal and the roof of a Catholic Church being partially blown off.
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: 5304250.