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 4, 11:04 AM EST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 1204 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002 BROAD UPPER TROUGH OVER SE U.S./FLA TONIGHT THROUGH SAT WITH EMBEDDED UPPER LOW OFF SE U.S. COAST AND OVER N FLA. WEAK SURFACE TROUGH OVER S FLA GRADUALLY WEAKENING AND MOVING N OF AREA SAT AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER EXTREME S FLA CONTINUES TO NUDGE N. FOR THE NEAR TERM THOUGH, EVEN WITH SURFACE RIDGE SHIFTING LOW LEVEL WIND FLOW TOWARD THE SOUTH BY FRI/FRI NIGHT AND TOWARD THE SE SAT, UPPER LEVEL FLOW REMAINS SW WHICH MEANS MINOR NOCTURNAL ACTIVITY SW COAST WITH LIKELY SHOWERS/TSTMS AFT/ CHANCE EARLY EVE INTERIOR AND E. AVN INSISTS ON LOWER POPS AND WILL GO WITH HIGHER GUIDANCE. TEMPS GUIDANCE REASONABLE WITH E COAST MINIMUMS GRADUALLY RISING INTO WEEKEND AS FLOW BECOMES MORE OFF OF ATLC. IN THE EXTENDED, 50H RIDGE SRN GREAT PLAINS/MIDWEST BUILDS AND LEANS EASTWARD THROUGH TN/OH VALLEYS TOWARD E U.S. COAST. TROUGH OVER N FLA MOVES SE OVER S FLA AND SPLITS WITH BULK OF TROUGH MOVING E INTO ATLC BUT S END MOVING W INTO GULF. HIGH PRESSURE BECOMES DOMINATE OVER SE U.S WITH SURFACE RIDGE MOVING WELL N OF AREA. LOW LEVEL AND STEERING WINDS BECOME E SHIFTING PATTERN OF PRECIP FROM CURRENT W TO E TO E TO W DIURNALLY. MAX TEMPS NEAR 90 E COAST BUT GRADUALLY WARMING INTERIOR AND W WITH DOMINATING EASTERLY FLOW. POPS SEASONABLE WITH E TO W PATTERN MENTIONED PREVIOUS FORECAST. MARINE WINDS SHIFT AS DESCRIBED ABOVE BUT BEGIN TO EXCEED 10 KNOTS MON INTO TUE. NO HIGHLIGHTS. NO PROBLEMS FIRE WEATHER THOUGH LIGHTNING SPARKED A 5 ACRE FIRE IN BROWARD COUNTY WED. .CRYSTAL FACE...THUNDERSTORMS ACTIVE AGAIN FRI MOVING NE ACROSS PENINSULA BUT ANVIL TOPS TO MOVE TOWARD THE SE. PBI TT 074/090 074/090 076 1536363 FLL TT 076/089 076/089 077 1536363 MIA TT 075/090 075/090 076 1536363 APF BB 074/088 074/088 073 1524241= .MIA...NONE.
The Miami radar (KAMX), 9 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:02 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two men walking through a nursery in the Redlands were affected by lightning. One man was killed instantly and the other injured and treated at a local hospital. It had just started raining at the time the lightning struck.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Miami-Dade | 2002-07-04 | 37 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | 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: 5304143.