2 hail, 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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 12:50 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 150 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002 ...HAZY, HOT, AND HUMID THE TEMPERATURES ALREADY REACHED 90 AT MOST LOCATIONS AT 100 PM EDT. THE CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURE WAS 88 TO 90 BASED ON THE 12Z/02 SOUNDING DATA. THE CUMULUS HAVE FINALLY BEGAN POPPING UP. THE SURFACE ANALYSIS CONTINUED TO SHOW THE APPALACHIAN LEE SURFACE TROUGH OVER THE PIEDMONT... FROM NEAR DANVILLE S-SW TO GREENSBORO... ALBEMARLE AND CHARLOTTE. THE VISIBLE SATELLITE SHOWED SOME CUMULUS BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED OVER THE NORTHERN PIEDMONT AND AROUND... AND EAST OF CHARLOTTE. THESE AREAS SHOULD SEE SOME CONVECTIVE ACTION BEFORE 300 PM. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO POP UP AND INTENSITY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. AN ISOLATED PULSE SEVERE STORM WITH HAIL AND GUSTY WIND WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE BEST AXIS OF MOISTURE WAS LOCATED CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS AND OVER THE BLUE RIDGE AND WEST... WITH A GRADUAL DECREASE TOWARD THE COAST. CAPES WILL EXCEED 2500 TO 3000 J/KG THIS AFTERNOON. A FAIRLY DEEP AND LIGHT NE FLOW ON ERN PERIPHERY OF UPPER RIDGE SUPPORTS PULSE CONVECTION. AS ON MONDAY... HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE STRONGER CORES. WITH THIS IN MIND... WE WILL HAVE GREATEST POPS (40) WEST WITH LOWEST (20) EAST. THE ACTION WILL GRADUALLY DIE OFF WITH THE LOSS OF HEATING... FOLLOWED BY A WARM, MUGGY NIGHT. LOWS AOA THE 68-72 DEGREE READINGS OF THIS MORNING. FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY... MORE OF THE SAME... JUST MORE OF IT THE ETA MOS IS HOTTEST... WITH UPPER 90S... THE NGM MOS COOLEST WITH LOWER 90S. ALL THE REGION SHOULD SEE 95 WITH 97 OR 98 POSSIBLE AT FAY-GSB. THESE READINGS COMBINED WITH DEW POINTS IN THE LOWER 70S WILL GIVE HEAT INDICES BETWEEN 100 AND 105 BOTH AFTERNOONS. WE WILL ISSUE AN SPS HIGHLIGHTING THE ABOVE. 30 TO 40 PERCENT POPS ARE IN ORDER WITH ISOLATED PULSE SEVERE POSSIBLE AGAIN WITH CAPES IN THE 3000-3500 RANGE. THE WEAK SURFACE TROUGH WILL ENHANCE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE DURING MAX HEATING. MODEL CONSENSUS INDICATES THAT FRIDAY WILL BE A TRANSITION DAY WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH FORECAST TO SWING THROUGH NEW ENGLAND... SENDING A WEAK SURFACE FRONT SOUTH INTO THE STATE. THIS WILL LOWER THE RISK OF THUNDER OVER THE WEEKEND FOR CENTRAL NC... AS DRIER AIR IS FORCED SOUTH ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE TROUGH. HIGHS WILL BACK OFF 4-6 DEGREES OVER THE WEEKEND... BUT NOT FOR LONG AS THE SAME OLD PATTERN IS FORECAST TO RETURN MON-TUE. .RAH...NONE. BADGETT/RA
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:35 UTC.
2 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started at least three house fires around Chapel Hill. The worst damage was sustained at a condominium complex on Copperline Drive.
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, 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: 5304301, 5304299, 5304300.