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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 12:45 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 145 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 DOG DAYS OF SUMMER CONTINUE...THO HEAT AND HUMIDITY NOT QUITE AS OPPRESSIVE TODAY AS PREV DAYS. BROAD SFC TROF IN PLACE OVER EASTERN CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON...WITH UPPER VORT MAX REFLECTED NICELY BY CLOUD BAND EXTENDING FROM NEAR RDU TO CAE TO AGS. PLENTY OF JUICE AVAILABLE ESP NEAR THE COAST SO WILL HAVE TO WATCH THAT...AS 1ST PERIOD POPS WILL BE DRIVEN BY HOW MUCH CONVECTION IS ONGOING LATE THIS AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE NEXT 7 DAYS WILL FEATURE WEAK TROFINESS OVER THE CAROLINAS BOTH SFC AND ALOFT. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPS A BIT MORE IN LINE WITH CLIMO...AND CONDITIONS A LITTLE MORE UNSETTLED. ETA/AVN BOTH DEVELOP A CLOSED SFC LOW OVER THE INLAND CAROLINAS DURING THE PERIOD. BELIEVE BOTH MODELS A BIT TOO BULLISH WITH THIS AND THEREFORE THEIR POPS...BUT WILL GO WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON/EVENING CONVECTION THRU THU. GUIDANCE MIN TEMPS NOT BAD BUT WILL TWEAK MAX TEMPS UP JUST A BIT. MED RANGE MODELS TRYING TO SHUNT DEEP MOISTURE OFFSHORE BY FRI...BUT NO REAL FRONT GETS IN HERE. WILL GO WITH A DRY FCST FRI/SAT BUT KEEP TEMPS SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO. CWF: SW FLOW TO CONTINUE. STILL BELIEVE AVN IS OVERDOING WINDS SOMEWHAT...AND WOULD EXPECT SEAS TO RUN A FOOT OR TWO HIGHER AT THE BUOYS SINCE THE FETCH W/IN 20 NM IS OVER SHALLOW WATERS. FIGURE 15 KT AND 3-4 FT THRU MOST OF THE FCST. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... ILM 76 92 75 91 / 30 30 20 30 LBT 72 93 72 92 / 30 30 20 30 FLO 74 94 73 93 / 30 30 20 30 MYR 76 89 75 88 / 30 30 20 30 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. RAS
NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-202200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 1126 AM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 ...HEAT INDICES TO EXCEED 100 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON... HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON WILL RANGE FROM NEAR 90 DEGREES ALONG THE BEACHES TO THE UPPER 90S IN THE HOTTEST INLAND LOCATIONS. THE HUMIDITY WILL BE PARTICULARLY OPPRESSIVE NEAR THE COAST...WHERE THE HEAT INDEX WILL REACH 100 TO 105 DEGREES. ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMER INLAND...LOWER HUMIDITY WILL CAUSE THE HEAT INDEX TO TOP OUT NEAR 100 DEGREES IN LOCATIONS SUCH AS FLORENCE... LUMBERTON...AND WHITEVILLE. HEAT CRAMPS...HEAT EXHAUSTION...AND DEHYDRATION ARE ALL POSSIBLE WITH PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THE HEAT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. TAKE THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT YOURSELF. STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED BUILDING IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST BE OUTSIDE... DRESS IN LIGHTWEIGHT...LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. THOSE WORKING OUTDOORS SHOULD REDUCE THEIR LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AND TAKE FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN THE SHADE. MAKE SURE OUTDOOR PETS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER AND ACCESS TO SHADE. ALSO...NEVER LEAVE A PET OR A CHILD INSIDE A PARKED VEHICLE WITH THE WINDOWS CLOSED. ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/ILM RAN
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:44 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A women was injured when struck by lightning and was sent to the hospital.
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: 5310753.