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 Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 20, 3:05 AM EST, 11 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 305 AM EST FRI SEP 20 2002 TIMING OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT AND TEMPS IN MOST OTHER PERIODS ARE THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEMS. SHOWERS HAVE CONTINUED THE NIGHT OVER AT LEAST THE WEST 2/3 OF OUR FORECAST AREA. RADAR SATELLITE AND WX DEPICTION AT 07Z SHOWS MORE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND JUST WEST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER. CD FNT WAS OVER ERN IOWA AND CENTRAL MISSOURI. MODELS ARE IN IN GOOD AGREEMENT MOVG CD FNT TO JUST EAST OF A KFWA-KIND LN BY 00Z AND TO ERN KENTUCKY BY 12Z SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BECOME MORE NUMEROUS THIS AFTN AS CD FNT MOVS THRU. ETA CAPES ABOUT 1100 J/KG THIS AFTN AND WINDS AT 850 ABOUT 40-50 KNOTS WHICH AGREES WITH SPC SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. PRECIPITABLE WATER ALSO JUST OVER 2 INCHES AND SOME AREAS COULD SEE POSSIBLY AN INCH OR TWO OF RAIN TODAY. AFTER THIS EVENING DRY AND COOLER WEATHER WILL BE THE RULE THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK. MODELS SHOW A DRY SECONDARY CD FNT MOVG ACROSS OUR AREA DURING THE DAY SATURDAY AND MRF SHOWS MAIN S/W MOVG THROUGH SUNDAY AND AGAIN BY THURSDAY. BOTH HAVE LIMITED RH TO WORK WITH...SO WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY. WILL GO WITH A BLEND OF FWC/MAV TEMPS NEXT FEW DAYS. .IND...NONE. HENDRICKSON
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
216 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0205 PM MC CORDSVILLE IN TORNADO
09/20/02 HANCOCK TORNADO DEBRIS.
REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
0213 PM MC CORDSVILLE IN TORNADO
09/20/02 HANCOCK TORNADO ON THE GROUND
AT U S 40 AND 800 WEST.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
219 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0156 PM GREENWOOD IN TORNADO
09/20/02 JOHNSON REPORTED BY MEDIA.
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO
GREENWOOD PARK MALL.
CARS OVER TURNED
0214 PM MC CORDSVILLE IN TORNADO
09/20/02 HANCOCK REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
TREES ON CARS.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
222 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0218 PM 2 N FORTVILLE IN TORNADO
09/20/02 HANCOCK REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR. TORNADO ON
THE GROUND STATE ROAD 238PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
228 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0227 PM INGALLS IN TORNADO
09/20/02 MADISON REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR. TORNADO ON
THE GROUND AT STATE
ROAD 13.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
234 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0227 PM 9 SW ANDERSON IN
09/20/02 MADISON TORNADO DAMAGE TO
STRUCTURES STATE ROAD
13 AND INTERSTATE 69.
REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
238 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0205 PM BEDFORD IN WIND DAMAGE
09/20/02 LAWRENCE REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
TREES DOWN COUNTYWIDE.
0220 PM 6 NW MEDORA IN WIND DAMAGE
09/20/02 JACKSON REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
TREES DOWN.The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:47 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado formed along a squall line. Ten single family homes sustained major damage. As the tornado passed through a trailer park, 30 trailer homes sustained major damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 2002Warnings in Indiana, September 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: 5315479.