Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, July 4, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, July 4, 2002
Start: 2002-07-04T15:25
End: 2002-07-04T19:00
Location: Georgia

July 4, 2002 · NWS FFC · 7 events in 5 counties and zones

5 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $79,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 2:05 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 2:05 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
305 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

OVERVIEW...UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHEAST CANADA ROTATES SLOWLY EAST NEXT
2 DAYS. THE TROF OVER THE SOUTHEAST OPENS UP SOME AND DRIFTS A LITTLE
EAST AND SOUTH LOSING SOME OF ITS EFFECT ON THE CWA. HIGH PRESSURE
IN CENTRAL U.S. BUILDS AND NOSES EASTWARD. AT THE SURFACE THE TROF
WEAKENS AND MOVES A LITTLE MORE INTO SOUTHERN GEORGIA. AS A RESULT A
SLIGHT DRYING AND STABILIZING TREND WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CWA INTO
THE WEEKEND.

NEAR TERM...MESO-ETA 1000-850 MB MOISTURE CONVERGENCE SHOWING
MINIMAL CONVERGENCE OVER THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER MODIFIED
12Z FFC SOUNDING SHOWS CAPES OF 1500...A BIT LESS THAN YESTERDAY.
WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 60S TO LOW 70S AND THE SURFACE TROF
LINGERING IN CENTRAL GEORGIA...PLUS THE ACTIVITY ALREADY IN WEST
CENTRAL GEORGIA...WONT BE SURPRISED TO SEE AT LEAST ISOLATED
DEVELOPMENT ANYWHERE IN THE CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING. WILL CARRY AT LEAST A SMALL POPS THIS EVENING...BUT LATE
LOOK AT RADAR WILL DETERMINE THIS. ACTIVITY SHOULD DIE OFF QUICKER
THIS EVENING THAN YESTERDAY THOUGH. FOR TEMPS WILL STAY CLOSE TO
GUIDANCE AND PERSISTENCE...BUT A DEGREE OR SO WARMER THAN LAST 24
HOURS.

EXTENDED...MOISTURE AHEAD OF NEXT FRONT BEGINS INCREASING BY MONDAY
AND CONVERGENCE BETTER BY TUESDAY  AVN MAY BE SHOWING EAST COAST
TROF TOO STRONGLY BY THURSDAY AND PUSHING THE FRONT TOO FAR SOUTH.
WILL HOLD ONTO POPS ACROSS THE WHOLE CWA THURSDAY...BASED ON FRONT
HANGING UP NEAR TENNESSEE GEORGIA BORDER.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE...GOOD CONFIDENCE LEVEL INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
QUESTIONABLE FRONTAL POSITION BY MID WEEK LENDS MORE DOUBT TO LAST 2
DAYS OF FORECAST.

FCSTID = 22

ATL  71 90 72 91 /  10 30 20 20
AHN  69 92 71 92 /  10 30 20 20
GVL  69 91 71 91 /  10 30 20 20
RMG  69 94 70 94 /  10 30 20 20
CSG  71 94 73 94 /  20 40 20 20
MCN  70 95 71 95 /  10 30 20 20

.ATL...
GA...NONE.

DH

OUR DETAILED COUNTY FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE AT FOUS52 KFFC.
OUR AREA FORECAST FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA CITIES IS AVAILABLE
AT FLUS42 KFFC.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 10:15 AM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
089>098-102>113-042200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1115 AM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

.SYNOPSIS...
WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS
AFTERNOON.

.PRIMARY HAZARD...
THE PRIMARY HAZARD FROM THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE LIGHTNING AND
DIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL...HOWEVER A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO CONTAIN
DAMAGING WINDS. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT
WILL BE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.DISCUSSION...
THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON WITH CAPES OF 1500
TO 2000...AND LIFTED INDICES OF MINUS 2 TO MINUS 4. MOST OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS...HOWEVER
THERE MAY BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME
SEVERE. THE MAIN AREA FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE ALONG AND NORTH OF A
LINE FROM ATLANTA TO ATHENS...WHERE THE GREATEST INSTABILITY WILL
EXIST.

.FOR SPOTTERS...
SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD MONITOR
WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND BE READY FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.

&&
FOR THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AND OTHER WEATHER
INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FFC.

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pike

When: July 4, 3:25 PM EST
Where: Pike County, Zebulon
Property damage: $500
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.100, -84.350

The Pike county 911 center reported that two trees were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Meriwether

When: July 4, 3:55 PM EST
Where: Meriwether County, Greenville
Property damage: $500
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.033, -84.717

The Meriwether county 911 center reported that two trees were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Coweta

When: July 4, 4:45 PM EST
Where: Coweta County, 5 mi SW of Newnan
Property damage: $500
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.354, -84.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Coweta county 911 center reported that a tree was down across Corinth and Millard-Farmer Road.

Lightning, Heard

When: July 4, 4:50 PM EST
Where: Heard County, Franklin
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.297, -85.128 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a transformer in the county and set it on fire.

Thunderstorm Wind, Heard

When: July 4, 5:40 PM EST to 5:46 PM EST
Where: Heard County, Glenloch
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.400, -85.083

The Heard county 911 center reported that trees were down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Carroll

When: July 4, 6:30 PM EST
Where: Carroll County, Bowdon Jct
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.667, -85.150

The Carroll county 911 center reported that trees were down.

Lightning, Carroll

When: July 4, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Carroll County, Mt Zion
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.583, -85.080 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Times Georgian newspaper of Carrollton reported that lightning struck and destroyed a Mt Zion home. All of the residents were across the street at the time of the incident, thus no injuries or deaths were reported.

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

Every storm in Georgia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, July 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: 5308008, 5308003, 5308004, 5308005, 5308007, 5308006, 5308009.