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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 230 AM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 NATURE OF CNVCTV EVOLUTION TDA ACRS THE CWFA STILL UP IN THE AIR. RADAR...STLT...AND LGTNG DATA TRENDS OVR THE LAST FEW HRS HV SHOWN GOOD ORGANIZATION TO THE CNVCTN ENTERING NW IN AND ACRS NRN IL INTO SRN IA. LKS LIKE THESE MCSS SHUD MERGE OVR IL FAIRLY SOON. MCS FM SE NEB INTO NRN KS IS OF MORE CONCERN FOR THIS FCST AND WKNG TRENDS HV BEEN NOTED IN ALL REMOTE SENSING DATA SETS FOR NRN PTN WHILE BTR LINEAR E/W ORGANIZATION OCCURING ON SRN PERIPHERY OVR NC KS. WUD LIKE TO SEE MORE DVLPMNT OVR NW MO...AND SOME MERGING WITH IA STRMS. LLJ STILL FOCUSED IN THIS RGN AND LRG SCALE SUPPORT IS INCRSG AS THE SHRTWV TROF MIGRATES EWD...SO HOPEFULLY WL SEE THIS DVLPMNT EVOLVE SHORTLY AND CLR UP THE FCST. REGARDLESS I THINK WITH THE MOIST AND UNSTBL AMS IN PLACE AND THE SRN MVMNT OF THE CDFNT TDA LIKELY POPS ARE STILL WARRANTED. MDL QPFS ARE TERRIBLE AND OF LTL HELP IN RESOLVING HVY RN THREAT. IF THE ABV MENTIONED EVOLUTION WUD PAN OUT THERE SHUD BE A HVY RN THREAT IN THE CURRENT WATCH AREA THIS MRNG. ATTM WL LV THE WATCH IN PLACE. THE FCST CONTS TO BE A LTL MUDDLED TNGT WITH SIGN DIFS WRT TO THE CDFNT PSN AND INTRUSION OF DRIER AIR FM THE NNE. THE ETA RMNS QUITE SLOW WHILE THE AVN IS MOST AGREESIVE. I PLAN TO FOLLOW THE ETA THIS PCKG WITH THE FNT PSN. THIS SUPPORTS CONTG MENTION OF POPS MOST LCTNS WITH THE FNT STILL NORTH OF STL AT 00Z TNGT MOVG INTO THE SRN CWFA BY 12Z TUE. THE LOW LVL FLOW ABV THE PBL TNGT IS FAIRLY WK AND A BIT DISORGANIZED ERLY THEN REFOCUSES WITH A VENGENCE BY 06Z ACRS SRN NEB/NRN KS...BFR WKNG AND VEERING BY TUE MRNG. CFM VECTORS INDCTG POTNTL FOR SEWD MCS MVMNT ASSOCD WITH VEERING LLJ AND THIS COMBINED WITH THE RETREATING FNT ON TUE MERITS HANGING ONTO LOW POPS. PRINDS ARE THAT BY WED THE FNT WL HV RETREATED WELL NORTH OF THE RGN IN ASSOCN WITH THE BLDG UPR RDG...AND THIS SHUD SHIFT PCPN FOCUS ACRS THE NRN PLAINS AND UPR MS VLY WITH SUMMER HEAT BCMG ENTRENCHED ACRS THE MID MS VLY. .STL...FLOOD WATCH N OF LINE FROM ROLLA MO TO MT VERNON IL THIS MRNG GLASS
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:40 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike was responsible for a fire at a home east of Quincy. The lighting struck an enclosed porch on the south side of the house and quickly spread to the kitchen.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, 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: 5314140.