1 flash flood, 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 5, 2:20 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA 320 AM CDT MON AUG 5 2002 ...TROPICAL STORM BERTHA OVER THE FORECAST AREA... AT 3 AM RADAR LOOP SHOWS CENTER LOCATED OVER THE LOWER LOBE OF LAKE BORGNE ABOVE SHELL BEACH MOVING TO THE NORTH AT AROUND 17 KT. THIS MOVEMENT HAS BEEN SHORT-TERM AND NEWLY DEVELOPED WITHIN THE PAST HOUR BUT OVERALL 6 HOURLY MOVEMENT HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY SLOWER AND MORE NORTH-NORTHWEST...AS PER LATEST NHC ADVISORY. WENT TO TROPICAL Z/R CONFIGURATION ON THE RADAR AND AM NOT PLEASED WITH THE PERFORMANCE AS RADAR IS QUITE HOT ON AMOUNTS. IN AREAS DEPICTED AS 2 TO 2.5 INCHES ON 88D PRECIPIATION ESTIMATES...GROUND TRUTH IS CLOSER TO 1-1.25 INCHES. WE ARE PROCEEDING WITH 1/2 RADAR ESTIMATES UNTIL GROUND TRUTH CAN SUPPORT OTHERWISE. NEVERTHELESS...HEAVY RAINFALL IS FALLING IN A COASTAL CONVERGENCE FASHION ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI COAST WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL SHOULD BE AND OVER ST TAMMANY PARISH. DRY AIR INTRUSION HAS PRETTY MUCH WRAPPED AROUND 3/4 OF BERTHAS CIRCULATION WITH LITTLE ELSE IN PRECIPITATION STRUCTURE. ACTUALLY...THE RAINFALL PATTERN IS MORE REFLECTIVE OF DAYTIME TROPICAL MORESO THAN NOCTURNAL TROPICAL WITH THE OUTER BANDS BEING THE HEAVIER PRODUCERS PARTICULARLY OVER JACKSON COUNTY. CONVENTIONAL MODELS ARE NOT HANDLING DETAILS WELL AND WILL BASE THE SHORT-TERM FORECAST MAINLY ON RADAR AND STORM TRENDS AND THEN FOLLOW AVN TRENDS BEYOND DAY ONE. HAVING SAID THIS...INTEND TO MAINTAIN CATEGORICAL POPS TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE STORM TRACK AND LIKELY TO THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST TODAY. WITH THE LOW LEVEL CENTER WEST OF THE CWA LATER TONIGHT...ANTICIPATE TO STILL BE IN DEEP FETCH TROPICAL MOISTURE TO MAINTAIN LIKELY POPS IN THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CWA BUT CUT BACK A BIT TO THE 40-50 PERCENT RANGE IN THE EASTERN HALF OVERNIGHT. WILL MAINTAIN TRENDS OF PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE WITH DAYTIME 60 PERCENT FOR TUE AND WED ENTIRE AREA...30 PERCENT TUE NIGHT AND WED NIGHT ENTIRE AREA...AND RUN REMAINDER OF FORECAST UNCHANGED. AS FAR AS TEMPS...INTEND TO UNDERCUT TEMPS IN THE HIGH POP AREAS INTO THE LOWER 80S BUT UPPER 80S IN THE LOWER POP AREAS. WILL GO A DEGREE OR TWO WARMER THAN GUIDANCE OVERNIGHT THEN CLOSE TO AVN GUIDANCE THEREAFTER. MCB 88/73/90/73 6663 BTR 89/74/88/74 6663 MSY 84/77/89/77 8463 GPT 82/75/89/75 8563 .NEW...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO ATCHAFALAYA RIVER AND OUT 60NM INCLUDING LAKES PONTCHARTRAIN AND MAUREPAS. FLASH FLOOD WATCH LAZ037>040-050-MSZ077-080>082 LA...TROPICAL STORM WARNING LAZ038-040-050-058-060>064-069-070. MS...TROPICAL STORM WARNING MSZ080>082. 24
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall of 3 to 4 inches within a couple of hours developed as Tropical Storm Bertha was moving onshore, resulting in flash flooding in extreme southeast St. Tammany Parish.
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: 5316234.