Name: High Wind in North Carolina, January 6, 2002
Start: 2002-01-06T14:00
End: 2002-01-06T15:00
Location: North Carolina

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 happened

The episode as NWS MHX wrote it up.

Strong non-convective winds of 60 to 70 mph impacted the Crystal Coast and Outer Banks during the afternoon of March 6, 2001. No damage was reported, however, trees were reported down in some areas as well as numerous power outages.

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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 6, 2:00 PM EST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 2:00 PM EST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
200 PM EST SUN JAN 6 2002

SHORT TERM...RAIN SHIELD QUICKLY LIFTING NORTHEAST ACROSS OUR CWA.
AT THE CURRENT CLIP...THE RAIN SHOULD BE OUT OF OUR CWA BY
PRESSTIME...SO AM PLANNING NO POPS FOR THE FIRST PERIOD...BUT WILL
HOLD ZONES A BIT LATER THAN NORMAL TO MAKE SURE THIS WILL PAN OUT.
ONCE RAIN IS GONE...SKIES CLEAR GRADUALLY WITH MINS DROPPING INTO
THE MIDDLE 30S TO LOWER 40S. WILL DROP WIND ADVISORIES/WARNINGS WITH
ISSUANCE AS STRONG WINDS (65 KT AT 1K FT) NEVER QUITE WERE ABLE TO
MIX DOWN...EVEN IN HEAVY SHOWERS.

MONDAY...EXPECT SKIES TO CLEAR AS SUBSIDENCE IN WAKE OF EXITING LOW
TAKES HOLD FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY. MAX TEMPS PROBABLY WITHIN
A FEW DEGREES OF 50. CLOUDS WILL AGAIN START TO INCREASE FROM THE
W/NW IN THE AFTERNOON AS H5 LOW MOVES TO OUR NORTH AND OFF THE COAST
OF NJ BY MONDAY EVENING.

MONDAY NIGHT...COULD MAKE A CASE FOR A FEW FLURRIES OVER OUR NRN CWA
DURING MON NIGHT...AS UPPER LEVEL ENERGY MOVES TO OUR NORTH WITH
SOME MOISTURE IN PLACE...BUT OMEGA AND DPVA IS NIL AND WILL LEAVE
FLURRIES OUT. TEMPS WILL BE COLDER WITH MINS UPPER 20S TO MIDDLE 30S.

TUES...SUNSHINE RETURNS WITH A CHILLY DAYS AS MAXES TOP OUT IN THE
LOWER TO MIDDLE 40S.

MARINE: WILL HOLD ON TO ALL GALES INTO EARLY EVENING...ESPECIALLY
WITH THIS DRY SLOT COMING UP THE COAST. SW WIND BEHIND LOW MAY
REALLY RIP BEYOND TIME OF SUNSET FOR A WHILE. LOOKS LIKE WELL HAVE
AT LEAST SMALL CRAFT FOR SEAS THROUGH MONDAY AS WINDS SLOW TO SUBSIDE.

.MHX...GALE WARNING COASTAL WATERS AND SOUNDS.

PUBLIC/FIRE...COLLINS
MARINE/AVIATION...COLBY

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Onslow

When: January 6, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Onslow forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Carteret

When: January 6, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Carteret forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Hyde

When: January 6, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Hyde forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Dare

When: January 6, 3:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Dare forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, January 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: 5277360, 5277361, 5277362, 5277363.