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 8, 12:40 PM EST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 140 PM EDT MON JUL 8 2002 .60 HOUR SHORT-TERM...SHORT-WAVES ALOFT INDUCE AN EASTERN US UPPER TROUGH USHERING A SURFACE COLD FRONT INTO NC LATE WED AFTERNOON INTO THU. WARMEST DAYS TUE & WED DUE TO WESTERLY COMPONENT AROUND WESTERN EXTENSION OF OFFSHORE SURFACE HIGH AND A DEVELOPING LEE/PREFRONTAL SURFACE TROUGH. CHANCE FOR TSTMS WED AFTERNOON AND NIGHT AHEAD OF APPROACHING FRONT ACCOMPANIED BY UPPER LEVEL HEIGHT FALLS AND POOLING OF MOISTURE. POPS LIMITED TO 30-40 PERCENT SINCE BEST UPPER LEVEL ENERGY PASSES TO NORTH AND THE POTENTIAL FOR NW FLOW AT 850 LEVEL AHEAD OF SURFACE FRONT. DECENT INSTABILITY AND CAPES WED AFTERNOON. ALSO SOME DIRECTIONAL DIFFLUENCE 250 MB LEVEL. NO POPS TUE AS FORCING FEATURES AND CAPES LIMITED. WITH FRONT SLOW TO CLEAR STATE...POPS CONTINUE SOUTHERN TIER FOR THU AT 30 PERCENT. HIGH TEMPS A FEW DEGREES BELOW TUE AND WED. .FRI - MON....1020 MB SURFACE HIGH CAN ONLY PUSH SURFACE FRONT SO FAR. FRONT LINGERS JUST SOUTH OF CWA FRI AND SAT. MEANWHILE VIGOROUS SHORT-WAVE SEEN IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND INITIALIZED BY MODELS THIS MON AM IS PROJECTED TO MOVE AROUND TOP OF WESTERN US 500 MB RIDGE INTO MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. FEATURE IS POTENTIAL SOURCE OF LIFT FOR SAT AND SUN AND SHOULD IT PRODUCE PCPN...RELATIVELY RARE HYBRID COLD-AIR DAMMING EVENT IS POSSIBLE. UPPER LEVEL FEATURE MOVES EAST OF AREA MON ACCOMPANIED BY DRYING ALOFT. ABOVE PAINTS A RATHER DETAILED SCENARIO TOO FAR IN ADVANCE. FOR NOW WILL LEAVE POPS OUT FOR FRI...KEEP CURRENT FORECASTS OF CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS AND CHC POPS FOR THE WEEKEND WITH A DRYING TREND FOR MONDAY. .RAH...NONE. KK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started at least four house fires across Wayne county, most occurring near Goldsboro.
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: 5303673.