2 rip current, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 2, 1:30 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
230 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002
CURRENTLY:MOSTLY SUNNY ACROSS AREA. DEW POINTS RUNNING LOW 60S ERN
MOST GA COUNTIES TO LOWER 70S PANHANDLE COAST. S/SW WINDS CONTS
BREEZY...15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH MOST SITES.
DISCUSSION: SOME MINOR CHANGES ON THE SHORT TERM HORIZON. SPLIT FLOW
WILL CONT ACROSS CONUS. ACROSS SRN STREAM...ENERGY MOVING FROM BAJA
PENINSULA NEWD THRU CNTRL PLAINS/MISS VALLEY WITH STRONG JET HELPING
TO MAINTAIN BREEZY/GUSTY LOW LEVEL WINDS AS FAR S OF LOCAL AREA.
AT UPPER LEVELS...WEAK SHORTWAVE LIFTS NEWD ACROSS TEXAS INTO TENN
VALLEY LATE TOMORROW. THIS WILL ACT TO SOMEWHAT FLATTEN BROAD UPPER
RIDGE OVER SE CONUS ALLOWING A FEW WEAK VORTS TO ROLL ACROSS NRN
MOST SECTIONS OF CWFA. HOWEVER MID-LWR LEVEL RIDGE CENTERED S OF
CWFA SHOWS LITTLE INCLINATION TO WEAKEN. SHORTWAVE WILL HELP DRAG
SURFACE FRONT SEWD TO SCNTRL ALA-GA TOMORROW AFTERNOON. HOWEVER
PARRALLEL MID/UPR FLOW WILL SERVE AS BARRIER TO FURTHER SRN
MOVEMENT.
SOME MODEL DISAGREEMENT WITH AVN MOST BULLISH WITH SWD PROGRESSION
FRONT/ASSOCD MOISTURE BRINGING LEADING EDGE OF MOISTURE TO INLAND
FLORIDA B4 THE FRONT LIFTS NWD SATURDAY AFTERNOON. BELIEVE MORE
SLUGGISH ETA BEST REPRESENTS REALITY GIVEN STRENGTH OF RIDGE. EITHER
WAY...FRONT (OR MAYBE SECONDARY FRONT?) DRIFTS BACK SWD SCNTRL GA ON
SUNDAY B4 WASHING OUT BY SUNDAY EVENING. THIS UPPER-LWR DYNAMIC WILL
SERVE TO GENERATE A WEEKEND DECREASING POP GRAD FROM N TO S WITH
COOLER TEMPS EXPECTED ACROSS NRN HALF OF CWFA WHILE HOT AND DRY
CONDS PERSIST ACROSS SRN HALF. MODELS SHOW WEAKER LCL GRADS TOMORROW
SO WILL DROP WINDS TO 10 TO 15 MPH AND NOT MENTION BREEZY TOMORROW.
NEAR RECORD TEMPS ACROSS SRN THIRD OF CWFA AND WILL MENTION IN
ZONES.
RECORD HIGHS FOR FRIDAY
TLH 94 1938
ABY 96 1990
PFN 89 1990
AQQ 88 1951
DHN 94 1990
CTY 95 1990
FORECAST: 6 ZONE ZFP THRU WEEKEND WITH GA DIVIDED N/S AND SE BIG
BEND SPLIT FORM REST OF BIG BEND. 20-30 PCT AFTN-EVENING POPS NRN
THIRD...10-20 PCT CNTRL THIRD AND 0-10 PCT SRN THIRD. AS PER RECENT
DAYS...LOW CLOUDS TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AND SPREAD ONSHORE WITH
PATCHY AND POSSIBLY PATCHY DENSE FOG DEVELOPING MOST LOCALES B4
SUNRISE...DITTO FOR FOLLOWING NIGHT.
EXTENDED:AS DEEP LAYER RIDGE REBUILDS EARLY WEEK...PARTLY CLOUDY
...HOT AND HUMID CONDS PERSIST THRU AT LEAST MIDWEEK ACROSS CWFA.
MARINE: BUOYS CONTS 10-15 KNOTS WITH 4-5 FOOT SEAS. AS UPSTREAM LOW
AND FRONT MOVES ESE...LOCAL GRADS SHUD TIGHTEN A BIT TONIGHT AND
15-20 KNOTS OFFSHORE LIKELY. SO DIVIDED CWF INTO WRN AND ERN WATERS
AND INSERTED SCEC W OF RIVER. AS LOW MOVES EWD BEGINNING LATE
TOMORROW...LOCAL GRADS RELAX.
FIRE WX:DISPERSION INDICES REMAIN VERY HIGH TO RED FLAG WARNING
CONTS FOR ALL FLA COUNTIES REST OF TODAY AS WELL AS TOMORROW.
PRELIM NUMBERS...
TLH 68 94 67 92 01-2
PFN 74 86 73 86 0-01
DHN 72 89 69 89 0322
ABY 71 90 68 90 0332
VLD 69 92 68 91 0222
.AL...NONE.
.GA...NONE.
.FL...RED FLAG WARNING REST OF TODAY FOR VERY HIGH DISPERSION ALL
AREAS.
RED FLAG WARNING FRIDAY FOR VERY HIGH DISPERSION ALL AREAS.
BLOCKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1245 PM EDT WED MAY 2 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0600 PM COUNTYWIDE GA WIND DAMAGE
04/30/02 BAKER SEVERAL LARGE TREES
BLOWN DOWN. REPORTED
BY SHERIFFS OFFICE.
0835 PM CUTHBERT GA WIND DAMAGE.
04/30/02 RANDOLPH SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
LINES BLOWN DOWN.
REPORTED BY SHERIFFS
OFFICE. DEPARTMENT.
17-GOULDThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A man drowned after he was caught in a severe rip current. Reported by the Bay County EMA.
A man drowned after he was caught in a severe rip current. Reported by the Bay County EMA.
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, Bay | 2002-05-02 | 52 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Bay | 2002-05-03 | 33 | 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, 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: 5320548, 5319834.