1 tornado, 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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 13, 1:00 PM EST, 7 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CO FOR TYPOS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 200 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002 SHORT TERM: TEMPERATURES RESPONDING TO DELAYED HEATING WITH READINGS CURRENTLY IN THE MID TO UPPER 80S. HIGHS SHOULD REACH NEAR 90 AND BE ABLE TO TAP INTO AVAILABLE INSTAB (CAPES 3000 J/KG LI -8). WATER VAPOR LOOPS INDICATE IMMINENT PHASING OF THE NRN/SRN STREAMS AS INDICATED BY NWP GUIDANCE. 15Z SFC ANALYSIS INDICATED A NEW SFC LOW FORMING OVER NRN KY WHICH WILL BECOME THE MAIN LOW. STRONG DIFL ALOFT ASSCTD WITH THE PHASING STREAMS WILL AID SFC LOW DEVELOPMENT AND MODELS DEEPEN THE LOW TO AROUND 995 MB BY 00Z. THIS IS FAIRLY STRONG FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AND WILL CAUSE A BACKING AND STRENGTHENING OF THE LOW AND MID LVL WIND FIELDS. THESE CONDITIONS FAVOR ROTATING UPDRAFTS AND STRONG DOWNDRAFTS. DOWNDRAFTS WILL ALSO BE ENHANCED BY DRY AIR PARCELS ABOVE 600 MB. ALTHOUGH BEST TORNADO THREAT EXISTS NORTH OF HERE...WE WILL HAVE TO WATCH DISCRETE CELLS EXHIBITING DEVIANT MOTION FOR POSSIBLE SPIN UPS. MAIN THREAT WILL BE WIND DAMAGE IN BOWING SEGMENTS ALTHOUGH LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE DUE TO LOW WBZ HEIGHTS (10000 FT). WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS AND FOLLOW CLOSER TO WARMER GUID FOR MINS AS THE MAV HAS A COLD BIAS INITIALLY WITH FROPAS. TROUGH ASSCTD WITH UPPER LOW OVR NY/NEW ENGLAND WILL PASS ACROSS ESTRN NC LATE TUE. MODEL RH FIELDS ARE VERY DRY EXCEPT FOR SOME SHALLOW MOIST AROUND 900 MB. GIVEN STRENGTH OF UPPER SYSTEM AND ADVECTION OF COOL 500 MB TEMPS...WOULD EXPECT SOME SCT-BKN STRATO-CU...ESPECIALLY ACROSS MY NRN COUNTIES. DOWNSLOPE FLOW WILL COUNTERACT CAA AND WILL GO WITH GUIDANCE HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. MAINLY CLR SKIES EXPECTED TUE NIGHT BUT ALSO SHOULD BE SOME LOW LEVEL MIXING AND WILL TEND TWRDS HIGHER GUID LOWS. CAROLINA BLUE SKIES WILL PREVAIL WED AS A SPRAWLING RIDGE OF HIGH PRES DRIFTS EAST JUST SOUTH OF THE STATE. EFP: 00Z/12Z AVN RUNS VERY SIMILAR WITH RESPECT TO FRONTAL MOVEMENT OVER THE WEEKEND. BOTH ARE NOW FASTER IN BRINGING THE SYSTEM THROUGH FRI NIGHT INTO SAT. WILL FOLLOW THIS SCENARIO WITH LOW CHC POPS BUT CONFIDENCE NOT TOO HIGH WITH SUCH A LARGE CHANGE FROM YSTDY. REMAINDER OF EFP SHOULD BE DRY WITH NEAR SEASONABLE TEMPS. MARINE: STRONG SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES TO STAY UP OVERNIGHT. DAYBREAK SHOULD USHER NW 25 KT IN THE 20 NM CORRIDOR AS THE FRONT WILL BE WELL OFFSHORE BY THEN. WILL WORD SOME TSTMS MAY BE SEVERE TONIGHT. FOR MARINE INTERESTS...CALMER WATERS AND WINDS SLATED FOR WED THU. INCREASED THREAT FOR RIPS STAY UP THIS AFTN LIKELY INTO TUE MORNIN. .MHX...SCA FOR SOUNDS AND COASTAL WATERS. ELARDO/COLBY
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY, NC
922 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0918 PM 5 SW ROBERSONVILLE NC 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/13/02 MARTIN REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
JMEThe Morehead City radar (KMHX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:24 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
An F0 tornado touched down in Williamston destroying a car wash, one vehicle and causing minor damage to numerous homes.
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 historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2002Warnings 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: 5291023.