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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 7, 1:48 PM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 248 PM CDT SUN JUL 7 2002 VERY LITTLE CHANGE IN THE UPPER HEIGHT FIELD AS A WEAKNESS CONTINUES OVER THE EASTERN QUARTER OF THE NATION. UPPER RIDGE WILL EXTEND FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE WESTERN STATES. THUS...WEAK MID LEVEL SYNOPTIC FORCING MECHANISMS WILL BE ALLOWED TO STREAM SOUTH AND WEST ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. A MOIST...EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE REGION IN THE SHORT RANGE AS HIGH PRESSURE LOOKS TO PERSIST OVER THE SOUTHEAST STATES. ONLY SURFACE FOCUS FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEXT COUPLE DAYS WILL BE THAT OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES AND THE SEABREEZE. STORMS WILL BE OF THE TYPICAL DIURNAL AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING VARIETY FROM AFTERNOON HEATING AND HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER CONTENT (1.5 TO 2 INCHES). MM5 MODEL 3 HR PRECIPITATION FORECAST TRENDS SUPPORTS THIS...WITH DIURNAL AFTERNOON GROWTH OF STORMS...THEN DISSIPATION INTO THE EVENING. ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT DRY AIR ALOFT WILL BE PERSISTENT...TO ALLOW FOR BRIEF STRONG WIND GUSTS IN AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS. SEE NOTHING TO AFFECT NIGHTTIME MINS...SO WILL TAKE A PERSISTENCE APPROACH WHEN CONSIDERING THESE. A SURFACE SOUTHERLY FLOW REGIME CONTINUES TO MODERATE COASTAL MAXES. OVER THE CENTRAL GULF...A BROAD SURFACE CYCLONIC CIRCULATION IS BEING MONITORED BY THE TROPICAL PREDICTION CENTER FOR POTENTIAL TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT. THIS FEATURE WILL BE A NON-PLAYER IN OUR WEATHER AS THE LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE SLOWLY WEST...APPOACHING THE LOWER TEXAS/NORTHERN MEXICAN COAST EARLY IN THE WEEK. EXTENDED RANGE...UPPER TROF DIGS SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE UPPER MID WEST AND BECOMES REINFORCED OVER THE EASTERN STATES. THIS WILL ALLOW A SURFACE TROF TO SETTLE INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK...THEN DISSIPATE INTO THE WEEKEND. DUE TO THE FLOW...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REFLECT LITTLE CHANGE. /10 MARITIMES...WEAK PATTERN CONTINUES OVER THE MARINE AREA INTO EARLY WEEK. AVN MODEL BRINGS OFFSHORE WIND AROUND/AFTER MIDWEEK DUE TO CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK INDUCED LOW INGRESSING INTO THE AREA...BUT AM NOT BEING LED DOWN THAT PRIMROSE PATH. MAINLY KEEPING CONTINUITY/PERSISTENCE WITH WEAK TROF PERSISTING NORTH OF THE COASTAL WATERS INTO THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEK. SEABREEZE AND INVERTED TROF WILL MAKE WINDS LIGHT AND VARIABLE...OFFSHORE COMPONENT OVERNIGHT AND AN ONSHORE COMPONENT DURING THE AFTERNOONS. OTHERWISE...LITTLE CHANGE IN WIND AND SEAS. FIRE...NO FLAGS NEEDED AS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO PROVIDE PLENTY OF RAIN TO KEEP RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ABOVE CRITICAL LEVELS. DISPERSION MODERATE...IN 40S. /77 PRELIM NUMBERS... MOB 74 90 74 90 / 20 40 20 30 PNS 76 89 75 89 / 20 30 20 30 DTS 77 88 76 88 / 20 30 20 30 GZH 72 92 71 92 / 20 40 20 30 2R0 72 92 72 92 / 30 40 20 30 61A 72 92 72 92 / 20 40 20 30 .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-072300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1139 AM CDT SUN JUL 7 2002 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING... AS TEMPERATURES WARM INTO THE 90S THIS AFTERNOON...ALONG WITH DEWPOINTS WELL INTO THE 70S...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL FOCUS ALONG OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM PREVIOUS ACTVITY AND THE COASTAL SEABREEZE. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES IN ADDITION TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS AND GUSTY WINDS TO AROUND 40 MPH WILL BE COMMON IN THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. A FEW OF THE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF BECOMING A BIT STRONGER. RELATIVELY DRIER AIR IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE... COMBINED WITH STRONG SURFACE HEATING THIS AFTERNOON AND ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...WILL AID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE ISOLATED BUT STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BETWEEN NOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WILL BE FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST AT 15 TO 20 MPH... WITH ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS PRODUCING LOCALIZED AREAS OF DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH AND BRIEF PERIODS OF LARGE HAIL. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER OFFICIALS SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST INFORMATION WITH REGARD TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY. BE PREPARED FOR QUICK ACTIVATION SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS BECOME NECESSARY. DUE TO COMPUTER PROBLEMS...THE EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL WEB BASED VERSION OF THIS OUTLOOK HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED.
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a barn and killed four cows that were in it. Several electrical appliances were also damaged in a home near the barn.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, 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: 5311019.