1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 12:52 PM EST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 152 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002 CURRENTLY: WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A DISTINCT SHORTWAVE DROPPING DOWN FROM THE NORTH ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA. IN ADDITION...THE LATEST MSAS DATA SHOWS A WEAK SURFACE LOW JUST NORTH OF MY CWFA. AS A RESULT...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN ERUPTING ACROSS THE GULF WATERS FROM SOUTH OF PENSACOLA TO NORTH OF TAMPA. RADARS ARE ALSO DETECTING SCATTERED STORMS CURENTLY DEVELOPING JUST TO THE NORTH OF MY ALABAMA AND GEORGIA ZONES AND HEADED SOUTH. ANTICIPATE A RATHER ACTIVE DAY AS SHORTWAVE CONTINUES TO MOVE SOUTH AND DAYTIME HEATING ADDS FUEL TO THE FIRE. MODELS/ZFP: IN THE UPPER LEVELS THE MODELS PROG THE SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED VORT MAX TO DROP DOWN FROM THE TN VALLEY TO THE CENTRAL GULF COAST REGION...GENERALLY OVER THE MOBILE/PENSACOLA AREA BY EARLY FRIDAY. DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY ALL MODELS ARE SHOWING A WEAK VORT LOBE DRAPED ACROSS SOME PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA AS THIS FEATURE SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH. BY SATURDAY AS THE VORT LOBE CONTINUES ITS SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION MODELS ARE THEN SHOWING NVA ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE NORTHEAST. AT THE SURFACE THE MODELS ARE SHOWING THE WEAK SURFACE LOW NEAR COLUMBUS GEORGIA TO SLOWLY MOVE W OR SW WITH THE MODELS DIVERGING IN THEIR SOLUTIONS BY MIDDAY FRIDAY. ALL MODELS SHOW A WEAK TROUGH THAT EXTENDS FROM THE CAROLINAS AND ACROSS THE SE INTO THE CENTRAL GULF COAST AREA...BUT MODEL WIND FIELDS SHOW A SURFACE CIRCULATION GENERALLY OVER THE PANHANDLE AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. HOWEVER...BY LATE FRIDAY (00Z SAT) THE NGM HAS THE SURFACE LOW MUCH FARTHER TO THE WEST OVER SRN LA...AS OPPOSED TO THE AVN WHICH KEEPS THE LOW OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND SE ALABAMA WITH HIGHER MEAN RH VALUES NEAR THIS LOW. THIS EXPLAINS THE VERY LOW POPS NUMBERS IN THE FWC GUIDANCE. THE ETA ONLY SHOWS A WEAK BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDS FROM EAST GA ACROSS SRN AL AND INTO SRN LA. TONIGHT: WILL BASE POPS MAINLY ON RADAR TRENDS...AND FROM WHAT I AM SEEING NOW...I THINK 30-40% FOR TONIGHT LOOKS REASONABLE...BUT WILL MONITOR RADARS UP TO THE LAST MINUTE BEFORE DECIDING. FRIDAY: WITH THE VORT LOBE LINGERING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA...PWS STILL QUITE HIGH...AND WITH THE SEABREEZE CONTRIBUTION WILL USE 40-50% (40% NORTH ZONES-50% SOUTH). FRIDAY EVENING: WILL USE 20 PERCENT ACROSS THE BOARD. SATURDAY: MODELS QUITE A BIT DIFFERENT WITH THE ETA SHOWING THE MAIN SURFACE LOW OVER SE ALABAMA WITH WINDS MAINTAINING A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT OVER THE CWFA. AVN HAS THE LOW OVER THE GULF WATERS...WELL SOUTH OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...BUT WINDS STILL SE ACROSS THE REGION. BY THIS TIME SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR HAS FILTERED INTO THE REGION FROM THE NE AND BASED ON LOCAL SEABREEZE CLIMO...POPS IN THE 20-30% RANGE ARE STANDARD FOR THE WIND REGIME THAT WILL BE IN PLACE BY THEN. WILL GO 30 PERCENT ACROSS THE BOARD. MARINE: WINDS MAINTAIN A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT AND WILL ALSO BE BELOW CAUTION OR ADVISORY LEVELS. FIRE WX: NO HIGHIGHTS. EXTENDED (MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY): MRF SHOWS THE SURFACE LOW WHICH IS CURRENTLY JUST NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA TO SLIDE TO THE W OR SW AND EVENTUALLY END UP OVER THE WESTERN GULF AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS FROM THE ATLANTIC MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. BY WEDNESDAY A FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NW AND IS PROGGED TO SLOW DOWN AND LIE JUST TO THE NORTH OF MY EXTREME NORTHERN ZONES. WOULD EXPECT THAT THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS WOULD BE GREATER DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST WITH THE APPROACH OF THIS FRONT...BUT GUIDANCE NUMBERS (MEX) ARE INDICATING EITHER A GOOD CHANCE TO LOW END OF LIKELY CATEGORY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE FORECAST PERIOD...OR FOR THE CHANCE TO DECREASE SLIGHTLY ON WED AND THU...WHICH DOESNT SEEM REASONABLE. THEREFORE...WILL JUST GROUP THE ENTIRE EXTENDED PERIOD TOGETHER AND KEEP A MENTION OF SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS EACH DAY. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... TLH 070/092 072/094 3523 PFN 073/090 075/090 4523 DHN 072/091 073/093 4423 ABY 071/092 072/093 3423 VLD 070/093 071/094 2423 .TLH... .AL...NONE. .GA...NONE. .FL...NONE. MOLLERE
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was injured when he was struck by lightning while boating on the Flint River. Reported by Decatur County 911.
Several downed trees reported by Decatur 911.
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, July 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: 5306852, 5306853.