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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 1:11 AM CST, 10 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA 211 PM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 AN UPPER AIR ANALYSIS AT 200MB REVEALED ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATIONS OVER OVER EXTREME NORTHEAST GULF AND SOUTH OF BIG BEND TEXAS. A VORT MAX WAS REVEALED OVER CENTRAL TENNESSEE/NORTHERN ALABAMA. IN ADDITION...A WEAK TROUGH...WEAK SHEAR OR A COL WAS NOTED OVER WESTERN LOUISIANA. A SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT OF 1MB FROM THE FORECAST AREA TO ORLANDO REMAIN IN PLACE. LIX SOUNDING SHOWED A WEAK WIND PROFILE THROUGHOUT THE COLUMN AND H20 VALUE AROUND 1.9 INCHES. SYNOPTIC PATTERN CHANGE VERY LITTLE THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD AS THE NORTHERN JET STREAM REMAINS NORTH. ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION OVER EXTREME NORTHEAST GULF WEAKENS AND MOVES ACROSS THE AREA AS THE ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION SOUTH OF TEXAS BIG BEND STRENGTHEN AND MOVES NORTHEAST OVER TEXAS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW THE VORT MAX OVER CENTRAL TENNESSEE/NORTHERN ALABAMA TO MOVE OVER THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY. AGREE WITH AVN...WILL INCREASE POPS TO 50 PERCENT FOR WEDNESDAY. A WEAK LOW DEVELOPS UNDERNEATH THE BROAD HIGH WEDNESDAY AND SLOWLY DRIFTS NORTHWEST THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THUS KEEPING THE CHANCE OF RAIN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO. MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ABOVE 70 PERCENT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. IN THE MEANTIME...ATMOSPHERE WILL REMAIN CONDUCIVE TO FUNNEL CLOUDS OVER MARSHES AND COASTAL WATERS. CAPE VALUES WILL REMAIN AROUND 4000 J/KG AND WINDS LESS THAN 10 KNOTS FROM THE SURFACE TO 300MB WILL PERSIST THROUGH TODAY. IN ADDITION...ISOLATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE LIGHT STEERING WINDS ALOFT. HERE ARE SOME NUMBERS TO PONDER... MCB 91/72/92/73 4142 BTR 91/73/92/74 4142 MSY 91/75/92/75 4142 GPT 91/74/92/74 4142 .NEW...NONE. LA...NONE MS...NONE 18
GMZ530-550-555-570-575-LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077- 080>082-191700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 630 AM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 .SYNOPSIS... A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS...OVER SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI...ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. .THUNDERSTORMS... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE DIMINISHING OVER LAND TONIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOST PREVALENT DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. IN ADDITION TO OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. DUE TO LIGHT WINDS ALOFT...ISOLATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .MARINE HAZARDS... AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND LIGHT WINDS ALOFT COMBINED WILL RESULT IN FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS OVER COASTAL AREAS THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. .ACTIONS... NONE. FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LIX (ALL LOWER CASE)
GMZ530-550-555-570-575-LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077- 080>082-201100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1030 AM CDT MON AUG 19 2002 .SYNOPSIS... A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS...OVER SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI...ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL PRODUCE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER LAND THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. .THUNDERSTORMS... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL INITIALLY DEVELOP ALONG THE COASTAL AREAS BY LATE MORNING...MOVE INLAND AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE DIMINISHING OVER LAND TONIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOST PREVALENT OVER SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. IN ADDITION TO OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 2 INCHES. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .MARINE HAZARDS... AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND LIGHT WINDS ALOFT ARE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED WATERSPOUTS OVER COASTAL WATERS THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. .ACTIONS... NONE. FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LIX (ALL LOWER CASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A construction worker was hospitalized and two others were knocked to the ground when lightning struck a tree that they were standing under.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, 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: 5316353.