Name: Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Georgia, August 26, 2002
Start: 2002-08-26T15:20
End: 2002-08-26T15:20
Location: Georgia

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 2:35 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 2:35 PM EST, 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
335 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

ATMOS QUITE UNSTABLE AS H5 COLD TROF ROTATES THRU THE AREA TONIGHT.
UPR JET PRODUCING DIFFLUENCE OVER THE AREA AS WELL. CONVECTION
ONGOING PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND SOME SVR ATTM. EXPECT LIKELY
COVERAGE THRU THE EVENING. ANOTHER COLD TROF ROTATES AROUND UPPER
LOW AND MOVES THRU TUE. LOTS OF MOISTURE AND SELY FLOW WILL LEAD TO
ANOTHER DAY OF INCREASED COVERAGE. BEST LIFT ROTATES NORTHWARD FOR
TUE NITE/WED. HOWEVER DEEP MOISTURE AND SELY FLOW CONTINUES.
THEREFORE WILL GO LIKELY POP NORTH AND CHC SOUTH. WILL CONTINUE TO
MENTION THUNDER DUE TO FORCING EVEN THOUGH ATMOS WILL BE LESS
UNSTABLE. THIS GENERAL TREND CONTINUES THU AS DOES CHC POP.

WENT TOWARD WARM GUIDANCE ON LOWS AND COOLER GUIDANCE HIGHS GIVEN
PRECIP AND CLOUDS.

FOR THE MEDIUM RANGE...LONGER RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO WEAKEN THE
UPPER LOW...AS IT WANDERS SLOWLY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST STATES. LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS RATHER HIGH...AND WITH A GRADUAL WARMING
TREND...EXPECT MOSTLY A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH SATURDAY...BUT CERTAINLY MUCH LESS COVERAGE
THAN EXPECTED THROUGH OUR CURRENT MIDWEEK PERIOD. BY MONDAY...WITH
HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL AND UPPER LOW LOSING ITS IDENTITY ON THE
MODELS...WILL GO WITH FAIR SKIES AND NO CHANCE OF RAIN FOR SUNDAY
AND MONDAY.

FCSTID = 81
GSP   69  82  67  82 /  70  60  50  50
AND   69  83  67  83 /  70  60  50  50
CLT   69  81  68  81 /  70  70  60  50
HKY   66  78  66  78 /  70  70  60  50
AVL   64  76  63  76 /  70  70  60  50

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

RWH/SAB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 26, 11:46 AM EST, 3 hours 34 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-262100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1246 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME NUMEROUS BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. COLD DRY
AIR ALOFT WILL HELP PRODUCE AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. THIS...COMBINED
WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT...WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.

DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.
HOWEVER...LARGE HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
POSSIBLE ANYWHERE ACROSS EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

RWH

Local storm report, Aug 26, 2:15 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
315 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

312 PM     DILLARD                   GA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   RABUN                          RABUN 911 RELAYED A
                                          REPORT OF DIME HAIL.

JONES

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Stephens

When: August 26, 3:20 PM EST
Where: Stephens County, Toccoa
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.583, -83.317

A couple of trees and a powerline were blown down.

Lightning, Stephens

When: August 26, 3:20 PM EST
Where: Stephens County, Toccoa
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.554, -83.293 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous power outages were attributed to lightning.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, August 2002

Sources

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: 5314095, 5314096.