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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 17, 1:52 PM CST, 6 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 252 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 A STRONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY COMBINED WITH UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PROVIDE WHAT LOOKS TO BE ADDITIONAL... WELCOME RAINFALL OVER THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. SATELLITE AND RADAR TRENDS UPSTREAM SHOW A SOUTHERN STREAM MID LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS MERGING WITH THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH SHOULD ENHANCE THE RAINFALL OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY IN THE SHORT TERM. ALTHOUGH...RADAR SHOWS SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND STORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE FORECAST AREA WHICH LIES IN THE WARM SECTOR...COVERAGES INCREASE THROUGH TONIGHT AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. PRECIPITABLE WATERS WILL REMAIN IN THE 1.5 TO 2 INCH RANGE WITH MOST AREAS LOOKING TO RECEIVE .5 TO 1 INCH OF MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL WITH LOCALIZED 1 TO 2 INCH AMOUNTS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION IN SOME OF THE STORMS. AS FAR AS ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER...BEST DYNAMICS LOOK TO REMAIN NORTH OF THE AREA IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONTAL SURFACE LOW AS IT TRACKS EAST INTO THE CAROLINAS. ALSO A LIMITING FACTOR IS THE ABSENCE OF SURFACE HEATING AS THE MAIN EVENT UNFOLDS DURING THE NIGHT. THEREFORE...WILL OPT TO NOT MENTION SEVERE IN ZONES...BUT WILL MENTION LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL DUE TO MOISTURE AVAILABILITY TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND STORMS END WITH THE WIND SHIFT SATURDAY. THE FRONT IS PROGGED TO MOVE SOUTH AND EAST OUT OF THE FORECAST AREA BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH DRIER AND COOLER AIR SETTLING OVER THE REGION FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND. EXTENDED RANGE...HIGH PRESSURE MAINTAINS RAINFREE CONDITIONS. FIRE...INCREASE IN NORTHERLY FLOW LATER SATURDAY WILL BRING AN INCREASE IN DISPERSION. HOWEVER...NO WATCHES OR WARNINGS AT THIS TIME. MARINE...AWAY FROM COASTAL WATERWAYS...BOATING CONDITIONS APPEAR LESS THAN IDEAL. MODERATE TO STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW AND A BUILDING SEA STATE DEVELOPS IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE SATURDAY. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED SATURDAY NIGHT. MODERATE TO STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW...UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH PRESSURE...LOOKS TO PERSIST INTO THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. FCSTID = 10 MOB 66 76 52 78 / 100 20 0 0 PNS 68 80 55 78 / 100 30 0 0 DTS 71 81 58 77 / 100 50 0 0 GZH 67 76 47 75 / 100 10 0 0 2R0 60 77 47 75 / 100 0 0 0 61A 66 75 46 75 / 100 0 0 0 .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 705 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ALZ053>060-062-064-180030- BALDWIN COASTAL-BALDWIN INLAND-BUTLER-CLARKE-CONECUH-COVINGTON- CRENSHAW-ESCAMBIA AL-MONROE-WILCOX- 705 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER PARTS OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH. PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH 1000 PM. ALZ051-052-061-063-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-180030- CHOCTAW-GEORGE-GREENE-MOBILE COASTAL-MOBILE INLAND-PERRY-STONE- WASHINGTON-WAYNE- 649 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR ALL COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...AND A FEW EXTREME WESTERN COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. THE LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED EAST OF THE REGION. FOR THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT EXPECT MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.
ALZ051>064-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-180115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 740 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. GEORGE...WAYNE...GREENE...STONE...PERRY...MOBILE...WASHINGTON... CHOCTAW. ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 1000 PM CDT... BALDWIN...BUTLER...CLARKE...CONECUH...COVINGTON...CRENSHAW... ESCAMBIA...MONROE...WILCOX.
ALZ051>064-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-180300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 910 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. BALDWIN...BUTLER...CLARKE...CONECUH...COVINGTON...CRENSHAW... ESCAMBIA...MONROE...WILCOX...
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the Emergency Management building near Milton and knocked out their 911 service. Other electronic equipment also suffered damage.
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, May 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: 5296564.