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 Jul 4, 1:30 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 230 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002 DEEP RIDGE CONTINUES TO THE N OF THE CWFA. A NE-SW ORIENTED COLD TROF...UNDER THE RIDGE...REMAINS SITUATED OVER THE CWFA. THE UPPER TROF HAS MOVED JUST A LITTLE BIT FARTHER TO THE SOUTH. THIS HAS PLACED THE AXIS OF THE BEST SURFACE CONVERGENCE...AND SFC MOISTURE FLUX DIV...A LITTLE FARTHER S TDA AS WELL. WHILE FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS THIS AXIS WAS CENTERED OVER THE MTNS...TDA IT RUNS FROM GSO TO GLT TO GRD. ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO BE VERY UNSTABLE. THE LATEST GOES SOUNDER DATA SHOWS THAT LI/S ARE RUNNING -7 TO -8 OVER THE ERN HALF OF THE CWA...W/MICROBURST POTENTIAL RUNNING BETWEEN 50 AND 60 KTS. WOULD EXPECT THAT CONVECTION WOULD BE MOST NUMEROUS OVER THE ERN CWA THIS EVENING. HOWEVER...WL MAKE FINAL POP DECISION SHORTLY BEFORE ZONES GO OUT. ETA INDICATES THAT H5 TEMPS WARM QUITE A BIT BY FRI AFTN. FOR MOST OF THE DAY...THE BEST SFC CONVERGENCE WL BE EVEN FARTHER S THAN TDA. HOWEVER...AFTER ABOUT 21Z...PRESSURES FALL OVER THE ERN CWA W/BEST SFC CONVERGENCE SETTING UP OVER THE I-85 CORRIDOR AGAIN AHEAD OF APPROACHING BACK DOOR FRONT. THUS...CONVECTION SHOULD GET OFF TO A LATER START TMRW...BUT THERE SHOULD BE SCT TSRA ACROSS MOST OF THE CWFA BY LATE AFTN. WL KEEP POPS IN THE UPSTATE SAT...BUT REMOVE THEM FROM THE REST OF THE CWA AS SFC FRONT WL BE THROUGH MOST OF THE REGION. EXTENDED FEATURES UPPER TROUGH OVER EASTERN USA. SURFACE RIDGE EXITING E COAST MON/TUE. COLD FRONT MOVES S INTO AREA WED...THEN S OF AREA THU...WHERE IT STALLS. HAVE CHANCE DIURNAL CONVECTION MON/TUE...THEN RUN POPS THROUGH WED NIGHT WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE. LEFT POPS IN THU/FRI AS MOISTURE LINGERS...AND UPSLOPE COMPONENT POSSIBLE IN NE FLOW BEHIND FRONT. TEMPERATURES COOLER WED WITH CLOUDS INCREASING...THEN MODERATING THU WITH LESS CLOUD. FCSTID = GSP 68 94 70 88 / 40 30 30 30 AND 68 94 70 88 / 40 30 30 30 CLT 68 94 70 88 / 50 30 30 30 HKY 66 92 68 85 / 40 40 30 20 AVL 61 87 64 81 / 50 40 30 20 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. MCAVOY/07
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-042230- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1135 AM EDT THU JUL 4 2002 ...SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN THE AIRMASS OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA SINCE YESTERDAY. ONCE AGAIN...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INITIALLY DEVELOP OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE BLUE RIDGE IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON. LATER IN THE DAY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP FARTHER TO THE EAST. WHILE THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN THE MOUNTAINS...JUST ABOUT ANY LOCATION ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAS A CHANCE OF SEEING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE SLOW MOVING. THIS WILL LIMIT THE AREA AFFECTED BY DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL...BUT WILL RESULT IN A FEW LOCATIONS SEEING EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. IN PARTICULAR...THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE BLUE RIDGE MAY SEE SOME LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING. SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION. MCAVOY
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
233 PM EDT THU JUL 04 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
220 PM 3 N HARRISBURG NC .88 INCH HAIL
07/04/02 MECKLENBURG SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED
NICKEL HAIL ON HWY 49.
LAMBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED COUNTY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
233 PM EDT THU JUL 04 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
220 PM 3 N HARRISBURG NC .88 INCH HAIL
07/04/02 CABARRUS SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED
NICKEL HAIL ON HWY 49.
LAMBThe Greer radar (KGSP), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:00 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
At least 3 major fires were ignited by lightning, some at apartments and houses.
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: 5309536.