Name: Heavy Rain in North Carolina, August 29, 2002
Start: 2002-08-29T15:45
End: 2002-08-29T17:30
Location: North Carolina

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 1:23 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 1:23 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
223 PM EDT THU AUG 29 2002

...UPDATED MARINE...

PRECIP WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING FROM THE SOUTH AS THE NEXT IMPULSE LIFTS ACROSS THE AREA.
DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. LATEST VWP FROM KLTX INDICATES THE SFC-BASED WEDGE IS
SHALLOWER...DOWN TO 1000 FT. MAY ACTUALLY SEE THE FRONT START TO
MAKE HEADWAY INLAND OVERNIGHT.

PRECIP WILL BE ENHANCED BY RIPPLES IN THE MID/UPPER LEVELS THAT ARE
DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT. POPS WILL STAY IN LIKELY-CATEGORICAL
TERRITORY THROUGH FRI...THEN WILL TAPER DOWN. MAY BE MORE DIURNAL ON
SAT BUT STILL WILL MAINTAIN A HIGH CHANCE. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A
DECENT H5 VORT CIRCULATING AROUND THE OFFSHORE RIDGE SAT AND THIS
COULD BRING ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF RAIN TO THE AREA SAT NIGHT
INTO SUN.

FLOOD WATCH WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE ENTIRE CWA OVERNIGHT AS
THE HEAVIEST PRECIP IS CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO CROSS THE WRN COUNTIES.

EXTENDED:  MEAN RH REMAINS QUITE HIGH ALL THE WAY OUT TO DAY 7.  BY
MON UPPER TROF STILL SHOWN BACK OVER MISSISIPPI VALLEY...BUT
SOUTHERLY COMPONENT ALOFT WILL KEEP THE POTENTIAL FOR SHRA/TSRA
GOING.   FLAT RIDGING FINALLY BECOMES MORE PRONOUNCED OVER THE
CAROLINAS AND VEERS THE FLOW TO THE W BY TUE NIGHT/WED...SO WILL
KEEP DAY 6-7 DRY FOR NOW.  TEMPS ON HIGH SIDE OF MEX
GUIDANCE...ESPECIALLY MINS WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE HANGING AROUND.

MARINE: BASIC TRENDS WILL BE MAINTAINED AS SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO
BUILD IN SE FLOW OVERNIGHT. AFTER COORD WITH MHX...AGREE THAT SEAS
WILL BE SLOW TO BUILD AND EXPECT TO REMAIN BELOW SCA THRESHOLD
TONIGHT. ONCE THE FRONT MOVES INLAND...SE FLOW WILL PERSIST INTO
EARLY NEXT WEEK. SEAS AVERAGE 4-5 FT THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

FCSTID = 33

KILM  73 83 73 83 /  70 70 50 50
KLBT  71 82 71 83 /  70 70 50 50
KFLO  71 82 72 84 /  70 70 50 50
KMYR  73 83 74 83 /  70 70 50 50

.ILM...
NC...FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR NCZ087-096-097-099>101.
SC...FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046.

SHORT-TERM: CRM
EXTENDED: RAS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, New Hanover

When: August 29, 3:45 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where: New Hanover County, Wilmington
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.181, -77.866 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain on already saturated soil caused street flooding over much of Wilmington. Old Mill road was under 4 feet of water, with scattered flooding reported in North Chase and other subdivisions north of Market Street. Burnt Mill Creek breached its banks and flooded a large part of Mary Bridge Park off Princess Place Drive.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, August 2002

Sources

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: 5316223.