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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 1:56 PM EST, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 256 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 REGIONAL 88D LOOPS INDICATE BROKEN DEEP CONVECTION JUST UPSTREAM OF THE CWFA ATTM. INTO THE EVENING...UVV ALONG AND OUT AHEAD OF APRCHG S/WV SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN CVRG INTO THE NC MTNS WITH CVRG EAST OF THE MTNS EXPECTED TO BE SCATTERED ACRS NORTHERN NC TO ISOLATED IN THE UPSTATE. LATER ON SUNDAY AND ESPECIALLY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...LARGE SCALE LIFT AND DEEPER RH LOOKS TO INCREASE ACRS THE CWFA IN RESPONSE TO ENERGY ROTATING AROUND UPPER LOW CLOSING OFF TO OUR WEST AND LLVL FLOW ASSUMING AN INCREASINGLY UPSLOPE/UPGLIDE COMPONENT WHICH CONTINUES INTO MONDAY. FROM DAYS 3 THRU 5...DRY SLOT PROGGED TO PUSH INTO CWFA... EFFECTIVELY SHIFTING WCB RNFL FURTHER NORTHEAST OF THE CWFA WITH TIME...BUT BROAD AND DEEP SLY FLOW ALONG FRONT SIDE OF THE SLOWLY FILLING UPPER LOW TO REMAIN OVER THE CWFA RESULTING IN DAILY CHCS OF DEEP CONVECTION. FCSTID = 55 GSP 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 AND 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 CLT 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 HKY 70 89 68 79 / 30 20 30 50 AVL 64 83 63 76 / 30 20 30 50 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE.
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-250000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 421 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING... ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PIEDMONT MAY INCREASE IN COVERAGE DURING THE EVENING...WITH A FEW CAUSING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WILL MOVE EAST OUT INTO THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. MANY OF THESE STORMS WILL BE STRONG...WITH SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD ALSO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL LIKELY BE IN NORTH CAROLINA...BUT A FEW STORMS COULD DEVELOP IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA AS WELL. INTENSE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS WILL ALSO OCCUR. JONES
NCZ035-036-055>057-066>072-SCZ007-008-242245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 549 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS... A BROKEN LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...WITH WIND GUSTS ABOVE 40 MPH...WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...AND ADJACENT AREAS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE. STORMS EXTENDING FROM AROUND HICKORY SOUTHWEST TO AROUND HENDERSONVILLE...WILL BE NEAR A SALISBURY TO GASTONIA TO SPARTANBURG LINE BY 645 PM. THOSE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS...CAN EXPECT LOCALLY STRONG WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL AS WELL. IN ADDITION...A FEW OF THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING AN EXCEPTIONAL AMOUNT OF LIGHTNING.
The Greer radar (KGSP), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning ignited a fire, destroying a house and much of its contents.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, 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: 5312801.