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 Mar 26, 2:20 PM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 220 PM EST TUE MAR 26 2002 THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONTINUES. GREATEST THREAT CONTINUES ACROSS THE SANDHILLS AND SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN WHERE GREATEST INSTABILITY PRESENT. MOST OF CENTRAL NC HAS WARMED CONSIDERABLY INTO THE MID 70S TO AROUND 80. LINGERING COOL POOL CONFINED TO VA BORDER REGION AND RETREATING RAPIDLY. WILL INCLUDE WIDESPREAD SHRAS/TSRAS FOR TONIGHTS FORECAST AND HAVE THEM DIMINISH LATE THIS EVE/AROUND MIDNIGHT. WILL INCLUDE ENHANCED WORDING OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. LOW LEVELS DRY OUT SLOWLY BEHIND COLD FRONT SO WILL WORD FORECAST AS GRADUAL CLEARING OVERNIGHT. FAIR AND DRY WEATHER EXPECTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK. WESTERLY FLOW AHEAD OF WEAK TROF THAT PASSES THROUGH AREA ON FRIDAY SHOULD RESULT N PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES ONLY. GUIDANCE TEMPS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND WILL NOT DEVIATE MUCH. FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD....MODELS DIFFER ON THE TIMING OF THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM FROM SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SOME MODELS AVN/CANADIAN WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY/MONDAY TIME FRAME ON THE FRONT. MRF/UKMET SEEM INCLINED TO BRING THINGS THROUGH FROM SATURDAY TO MONDAY. THE PARENT LOW WILL BE FAR TO THE NORTH OF NORTH CAROLINA WITH BEST LIFT AROUND IT AND SHEARING OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THIS REGION OF THE COUNTRY. THUS WILL JUST INCLUDE CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY AND GO WITH THE SLOWER SOLUTION. .RAH...SVR WW 43 WESTERN PORTIONS OF PIEDMONT THROUGH 600 PM. BLAES/CLINE
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-270000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1115 AM EST TUE MAR 26 2002 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA... .SKYWARN SPOTTERS... ACTIVATION OF THE SKYWARN NETWORK MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING ACROSS WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE PIEDMONT AND LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE PIEDMONT... SANDHILLS AND COASTAL PLAIN. .SYNOPTIC PATTERN... A SOUTHERLY FLOW OF AIR IS TRANSPORTING A WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS INTO THE REGION. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS THIS AFTERNOON. AN ORGANIZED LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING WILL SWEEP ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .HAZARDOUS WEATHER DETAILS... THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THIS WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BE FROM DAMAGING WINDS. LARGE HAIL IS ALSO A THREAT. RESIDENTS OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CLOSELY LATE TODAY. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS. BLAES
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:08 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started a fire that destroyed the third floor of a home.
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, March 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: 5281993.