1 waterspout, 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 Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 12:50 AM EST, 6 hours 18 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 150 AM EDT MON AUG 19 2002 CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION INVADING SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AT THIS HOUR. 00Z DTX SOUNDING SHOWING A VERY DRY AIRMASS OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. BASED ON THIS AMOUNT OF DRY AIR...ONE WOULD FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE WE WILL BE SEEING MUCH RAIN THIS MORNING. SHORTWAVE TROUGH RAPIDLY SWINGING THROUGH MINNESOTA CURRENTLY. GOOD 850-700 MB FRONTOGENSIS ALONG WITH UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE OCCURRING ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA/SOUTHERN WISCONSIN TRIGGERING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS ARE OCCURRING NORTH OF THE MEASURABLE QPF FORECAST OF THE 00Z ETA MODEL. NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FIRING ALONG A WARM FRONT/850 MB THETA-E RIDGE ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN IOWA/NORTHERN ILLINOIS. AVN SHOWING GOOD 850 MB FRONTOGENSIS QUICKLY MOVING OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN BY 12Z...ALONG WITH SOME DECENT UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE. AVN STILL WANTS TO BRING MEASURABLE PRECIP ACROSS ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. BASED ON CURRENT RADAR TRENDS AND FORECAST CONTINUITY...WILL FOLLOW THE AVN MOS POPS. HOPEFULLY THE FORCING AND MODEST MOISTURE ADVECTION WILL BE ENOUGH TO OVERCOME THE VERY DRY AIR CURRENTLY OVER THE CWA. WATER VAPOR SHOWING VERY DRY AIR MOVING THROUGH SOUTH DAKOTA. THIS DRY PUNCH WILL WORK INTO THE CWA BY DAYS END. CLEARING SHOULD OCCUR RAPIDLY. IT LOOKS TO BE A GOOD RADIATING NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE REGION. A FEW SPOTS WILL LIKELY DIP INTO UPPER 40S. STILL DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT TO ADD PATCHY FOG TO THE ZONES. NICE DAY ON TUESDAY AS UPPER LEVEL RIDGING CONTINUES TO BUILD ACROSS THE CENTRAL GREAT LAKES. 850 MB TEMPS WARM BETWEEN 10 AND 12 C. MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES SHOULD ALLOW FOR MAXES NEAR 80 ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWA...MUCH LIKE YESTERDAY. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS SHOULD REMAIN OVER EASTERN MICHIGAN TUESDAY NIGHT. 45 KNOT LOW LEVEL JET EXPECTED TO FIRE CONVECTION ALONG A WARM FRONT ACROSS THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES OVERNIGHT. AS USUAL...AVN IS MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS CONVECTIVE COMPLEX. CORFIDI VECTORS PROPAGATE THE COMPLEX DUE EAST. THUS...THE BIG QUESTION IS WHAT TO DUE FOR WEDNESDAY. AT THIS POINT...WILL FOLLOW THE CANADIAN AND KEEP MOST OF THE ACTION NORTH OF THE CWA. WILL INTRODUCE CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE CWA HOWEVER. IT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE A CLOSE CALL FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. NO CHANGES MADE BEYOND WEDNESDAY. .DTX...NONE. SF
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 157 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:08 UTC.
1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported a waterspout off the coast of Port Austin.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Lake Huron in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather history
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: 5309884.