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 6, 1:39 PM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 245 AM EDT SAT JUL 6 2002 COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH NORTH PORTION OF AREA THIS AFTERNOON EXPECT WEAK BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT AS IT DISSIPATES. WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH PORTION THIS EVENING AND THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON N PORTION. SEVERE WEATHER PROSPECTS LOOKS PRETTY SLIM AS CLOUD COVER HAS AIDED IN HIGHER STABILITY ACROSS THE AREA. SURFACE HIGH SETTLING ACROSS COASTAL MID ATLANTIC LATER TONIGHT AND THROUGH MONDAY AND THEN OFF THE COAST. MEANTIME...LARGE RIDGE ALONG WEST COAST AND BERMUDA RIDGE MERGE AND THIS SHOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH SUBSIDENCE AND WITH RISING HEIGHTS...MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE WARM ENOUGH TO PRECLUDE ANY POPS NEXT FEW DAYS. AVN IS NOW SIMILAR TO RUNS 36 AND 48 HOURS AGO...MEANING IT IS DISSIMILAR TO 24 HOURS AGO. RIDGE IN WEST SLOWLY RETROGRADES WHILE BERMUDA RIDGE SHIFTS SLIGHTLY SOUTHEAST. SHORT WAVE TROUGHS TOPPING WESTERN RIDGE WILL SLOWLY CARVE OUT A DEEPENING TROUGH ACROSS EAST COAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. A SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL DEVELOP AND APPROACH THE SOUTHEAST COAST THURSDAY/FRIDAY. THE FRONT ...INITIALLY ORIENTED NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST SHOULD TAKE ON A MORE EAST-WEST CONFIGURATION. BOUNDARY ENCOUNTERS RESISTANCE AS IT TRIES TO BUCK THE SOUTHEAST RIDGE AND SO SHOULD STALL NEARBY FRIDAY/SATURDAY. INCLUDING LOW CHANCE POPS BEGINNING WEDNESDAY THEN SLIGHTLY HIGHER WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. WENT ABOVE GUIDANCE MOST DAYS WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPING. MARINE: COLD FRONT IS EVER-SO-SLOWLY MOVING SOUTH INTO THE COASTAL WATERS. THE FRONT SHOULD STALL OUT AND DISSIPATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH A GENERAL E/SE FLOW DEVELOPING SUN-MON. AS THE SFC HIGH OVER THE GREAT LAKES SHIFTS E AND THEN OFFSHORE...WINDS WILL BECOME S THEN EVENTUALLY SW BY WED. SPEEDS REMAIN LESS THAN 15 KTS THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. WILL KEEP CHANCES FOR CONVECTION IN THE FORECAST OVER THE SOUTHERN WATERS TONIGHT ONLY...THEN REINTRODUCE CHANCES WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY. FCSTID = 27 ILM 67 88 67 89 / 0 10 10 10 LBT 66 88 66 90 / 0 10 10 10 FLO 68 89 68 90 / 20 10 10 10 MYR 70 88 70 89 / 20 10 10 10 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. DIGIORGI/TRA
NCZ099>101-SCZ032>034-039-046-062330- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 1100 AM EDT SAT JUL 6 2002 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAIN. SOME MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA. SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON. RESIDENTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN ALERT AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT HTTP://WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/ILM DIGIORGI
NCZ099>101-SCZ032>034-039-046-062330- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 330 PM EDT SAT JUL 6 2002 ...SEVERE WEATHER THREAT HAS ENDED... DRIER AIR AND CLOUDS HAVE LIMITED THE INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. AS A RESULT THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA HAS ENDED. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN IN ASSOCIATION WITH THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST PORTIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. SOME COMMUNITIES WILL RECEIVE AT LEAST 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS NOT EXPECTED TO CALL UPON THE SERVICES OF THE SKYWARN SPOTTERS NETWORK THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING. DIGIORGI
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the beach near the Sandpiper Lane public beach access, injuring a lifeguard and two other people near the area, none seriously.
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: 5310674.