1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Jacksonville, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 24, 9:45 AM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 945 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002 WILL UPDATE ZONES TO INCLUDE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 806. WILL ALSO BEEF UP DAMAGING WINDS WORDING IN WATCH AREA AND INCREASE WINDS A BIT. LOOKS TO BE A VERY BUSY DAY WITH STRONG LOW LEVEL JET TO BE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY...50KTS AT 1KFT ON 12Z KTLH SOUNDING. STRONG BOW ECHO CURRENTLY MOVING RAPIDLY ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA. MARINE...WILL UPDATE COASTALS TO REMOVE LOWER WIND RANGES. OTHERWISE NO CHANGES. .JAX... FL...SCA FERNANDINA BEACH TO FLAGLER BEACH. GA...SCA ALTAMAHA SOUND TO FERNANDINA BEACH. CAMP/SHASHY
FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-241900- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 952 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 2 PM EST FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA. IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA THIS WATCH INCLUDES BAKER...CLAY...DUVAL...NASSAU...PUTNAM...ST JOHNS... ALACHUA BRADFORD...COLUMBIA...GILCHRIST...HAMILTON...SUWANNEE...AND UNION. THE TORNADO WATCH ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. RADARS SHOW A LINE OF STORMS OVER SOUTH GEORGIA MOVING EAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH WITH STRONG WINDS AND THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORNADOES. BE ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF HAZARDOUS WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR LOCATION. MARINERS...YOU ARE URGED TO SEEK SAFE HARBOR IMMEDIATELY IF HAZARDOUS WEATHER APPROACHES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED. PLEASE RELAY ANY REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND LOCAL COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... MORNING FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAX.
GAZ132-133-149-163-241510- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 949 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...COFFEE...ATKINSON...CLINCH AND JEFF DAVIS. AT 949 AM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CENTERED 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF DOUGLAS...MOVING EAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH. THIS CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO AFFECT AREAS AROUND PRIDGEN...DOUGLAS...BROXTON...SNIPESVILLE...WEST GREEN...NICHOLLS AND DENTON THROUGH 1015 AM EST. EXCESSIVE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED. POSTPONE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES PROMPTLY. GO QUICKLY INSIDE A COMPLETELY ENCLOSED BUILDING. SHASHY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
House damaged by 16 inch diameter tree. Numerous trees down. 2 mile long path about 100 yards wide.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Georgia, 2002Warnings in Georgia, December 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: 5323907.