1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 May 10, 9:30 AM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC 1030 AM EDT FRI MAY 10 2002 MORNING SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS A WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM JUST SOUTH OF THE DELMARVA PENINSULA SW THROUGH CNTRL NC...NWRN SC AND NRN GA. THE FRONT WILL PROGRESS SLOWLY S DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE CLOUDS HELD UP ON THE WRN SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD BEGIN TO SPREAD INTO THE CWA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON ACCORDING TO MESOETA LOW LEVEL RH FIELDS...WHICH SEEM TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON CURRENT SITUATION. VAD WIND PROFILE FROM KLTX SHOWS WEAK LOW-LEVEL FLOW...AND WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARY LOCATED SO CLOSE...DO NOT EXPECT WINDS TO INCREASE MUCH DURING THE DAY. THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE SEABREEZE THIS AFTERNOON TO MAKE GOOD INLAND PROGRESS. 12Z SOUNDINGS SHOW A MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE...ESPECIALLY LOOKING AT MHX/S SOUNDING. WITH A GOOD DEAL OF MORNING SUNSHINE INSTABILITY WILL ONLY INCREASE BY AFTERNOON. BOTH AVN/MESOETA SHOW SOME UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT NOT MUCH CONVERGENCE AT THE SFC WHICH MAKES ME QUESTION THE LIKELIHOOD OF TSTM DEVELOPMENT. THE OTHER FACTOR WILL BE A FOCUSING MECHANISM...WHICH EITHER THE FRONT ITSELF OR THE SEABREEZE BOUNDARY MAY PROVIDE. FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE LOW END CHANCE POPS. CURRENT FCST TEMPS LOOK IN LINE BASED ON CURRENT OBS. CWF...OBS CURRENTLY INDICATING S TO SW WIND 10 KT NEAR SHORE TO ABOUT 15 AT THE BUOYS. WINDS MAY EVEN DIMINISH A LITTLE MORE AS THE WEAK FRONT NEARS. DO NOT PLAN ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO CURRENT CWF. FCSTID = 36 ILM 87 68 77 65 / 30 50 50 20 LBT 89 65 77 62 / 30 50 50 20 FLO 90 66 80 64 / 30 50 50 20 MYR 80 69 77 66 / 30 50 50 20 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. JAQ
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:47 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
New Hanover 911 reported quarter size hail. Dime size hail was also reported on Carolina Beach Rd.
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, May 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: 5291030.