1 heat, 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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 2:45 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD, VA 345 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 TNGT...UPR SYSTEM TRACKING ESE THRU CAROLINAS THS EVE...ENHNCD A LTL PRHPS DUE TO COLUMN STRETCHING AS IT EXITED E OF THE MTNS. NE SFC WNDS AIDING IN A LTL LLVL UPSLOPE...OVR INLAND AREAS...RESULTING IN THAT CNVCTN...WHCH WL TRACK THRU SRN VA. CNVCTN IN CNTRL NC AND SRN VA WL TRACK INTO NERN NC THIS EVE. MIDLVL WSHFT OVR SRN VA AND NC SEEN IN PROFILER DATA...ALSO AIDING IN THE DVLPMT OF CNVCTN. SOME DEEP DRYING STILL SEEN IN WTR VPR IMAGERY...SO NRN AREAS SHUD SEE SFC DEW PTS DROP INTO LWR/MID 60S TNGT AND TMRW. DEW PTS IN ORF/ECG MAY DROP TO ARND 70. CONFINING RAIN CHCS S OF RIC AND S OF WAL. LOWS IN UPR 60S TO LWR 70S. SUNDAY AND MON...UPR SYSTEM WASHES OUT OVR NC...WTH NRN EDGE OF CHANNELED VORTICITY NUDGING INTO ORF/ECG AREA. WK SFC HGH EXITS NEW ENGLAND...AND SFC WNDS SHFT TO S BY MON...SO WTH JUST WK LLVL FRCG...KPG SMALL CHCS FOR TSTMS NE NC WHERE DEEPER MOISTURE IN PLC. TEMPS GNRLY ARND 90 TO LWR 90S SUNDAY...AND APPCHG MID 90S INTERIOR SRN AREA MONDAY. COOLER AT COAST WTH ONSHORE SFC WNDS. TUE...ANTHR UPR SYSTEM APPCHS IN NW NRN STREAM FLO...AND WK SFC WSHFT BNDRY TRACKS TWD WRN AREAS...SO SMALL CHC SCT TSTMS TUE AFTN ARND LOUISA...FVX AND AVC. TEMPS IN LWR 90S...BUT COOLER AT WTR. WED THRU FRI...LONG RANGE MDLS CONT TO HV DIFFICULTIES RESOLVING FEATURES IN XTND TIME FRAME...AS IS TYPICAL IN THE SUMMER DOLDRUMS PD. WK...BRD NRN STREAM UPR TROF FCSTD TO BE OVR ERN U.S....BUT NRN STREAM IMPULSES TRACK WELL N OF THE REGION. LLVL WSHFT BNDRY FCSTD TO STALL OVR CNTRL/ERN AREAS...BUT NOT QUITE MK IT TO THE COAST. ISOLD ACTVTY PSBL EACH AFTN...BUT BEST CHCS STILL WED WHEN BETTER-DEFINED UPR SYSTEM SKIRTS N OF OUR AREA. WTH WK WSHFT CNVRGNC BNDRY IN OUR AREAS INTO FRI...CUD CRTNLY ARGUE FOR WDLY SCT SCTVTY EACH AFTN...BUT LTL TO NO UPR SUPPORT FOR MORE ORGANIZED...WDSPRD CNVCTN...ALSO...DRY GROUND AND DROUGHT CONDITIONS...SO ONLY HIDDEN 20% CHC EACH DAY. TEMPS NR OR A LTL ABV NORMAL THRU THE PD. CSTL WTRS...LGT ONSHORE FLO THRU SUNDAY...THEN TURNING MORE S AND SW MON AND THRU THE WK. WNDS SHUD PICK UP A BIT NXT WK WTH APPCH OF SFC BNDRY TUE OR WED...BUT CONDS STILL LUK TO BE BELOW SCA. SBY 67 86 67 89 / 10 10 10 10 OXB 70 83 69 87 / 10 20 10 10 ECG 74 89 73 91 / 40 30 30 30 ORF 74 87 72 88 / 40 20 20 20 PHF 70 91 70 93 / 40 20 20 20 AKQ 70 91 70 93 / 40 20 20 20 RIC 69 90 69 92 / 10 10 10 10 FVX 69 90 69 92 / 10 10 10 10 .AKQ... MD...NONE. NC...NONE. VA...NONE. NS
NCZ012-VAZ060-065>067-079>081-087-088-202000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 307 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...GENERALLY SOUTH OF A PRINCE EDWARD TO SOUTHERN PRINCE GEORGE LINE IN VIRGINIA...ON INTO PORTIONS OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA...THROUGH 400 PM. RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND POSSIBLE LOCALIZED FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE AND CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORMS PASS. 25
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
High temperatures reached the lower 90s. Heat related death of a man, found inside residence where the temperature was 100 degrees.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Dorchester | 2002-07-20 | 47 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maryland in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, July 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: 5309762.