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 Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 2:41 PM EST, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 152 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002 OVERVIEW: NOT REALLY MUCH CHANGE THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. PERSISTENCE. AT THE SURFACE A LEE SIDE TROF WILL PERSIST OVER THE NORTH WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTH. RIDGE PERSIST ALOFT. SHORT TERM:LITTLE CHANGE. SAME FORECAST INTO SUNDAY. POPS GO DOWN A LITTLE MONDAY AS THE RIDGES BUILD AND THE WEAK VORTS MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW ALOFT ARE FORCED FURTHER NORTH. EXTENDED:CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION GO TO AT OR BELOW SEASONAL AFTER TUESDAY AS RIDGES PERSIST. HOWEVER, THERE IS ENOUGH HEATING, MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY TO KEEP A MINIMAL POPS, SPECIALLY NORTH. THINK FRONTS WILL BE KEPT TO NORTH. MODELS CONFUSED AFTER DAY 5. FORECAST CONFIDENCE:GOOD EARLY PERIODS, LESS SO AFTER DAY 5 DUE TO MODELS NOT BEING CONSISTENT. FCSTID = 24 ATL 72 89 72 91 / 30 40 20 40 AHN 71 90 71 91 / 30 40 20 40 GVL 70 86 70 89 / 30 40 20 40 RMG 71 90 70 91 / 30 40 20 40 CSG 73 94 73 93 / 20 30 10 40 MCN 73 94 71 94 / 20 30 10 40 .ATL... GA...NONE. OUR DETAILED COUNTY FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE AT FOUS52 KFFC. OUR AREA FORECAST FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA CITIES IS AVAILABLE AT FLUS42 KFFC.
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The Gwinnett Daily Post of Lawrenceville reported that lightning struck a two-story home near the Norton Elementary school. The home was destroyed by the fire, displacing thirteen children and four adults.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, August 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: 5316838.