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 May 9, 1:43 PM EST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC 243 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 COLD FRONT IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO MOVE EASTWARD TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. BOUNDARY LOOKS TO SLOW SIGNIFICANTLY FRIDAY SUCH THAT IT WILL TAKE UNTIL SATURDAY MORNING TO CLEAR THE CWA. MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THE FRONT WILL LIFT NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT ON SAT. UPPER SUPPORT LOOKS TO BE MINIMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. LOW LEVEL FORCING AND UNSTABLE AIR SHOULD ALLOW FOR THE FORMATION OF SCATTERED STORMS WHILE THE FRONT IS IN THE AREA FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. SAT NIGHT...THE FRONT SHOULD HAVE LIFTED FAR ENOUGH NORTH THAT POPS WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. FOR SUNDAY AND BEYOND...HIGH PRESSURE WILL EXTEND INTO THE AREA FOR SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH MONDAY AND MOVE THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT. WILL INCLUDE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR MONDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE THE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY PERIOD WITH TEMPERATURES AT OR JUST BELOW NORMAL VALUES. NO POPS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. CWF: OBS ALONG THE COAST AND AT THE BUOY INDICATE WINDS GENERALLY SW BETWEEN 15 AND 20 KTS THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH TOWARD MORNING AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES...AND REMAIN BETWEEN 10 TO 15 KTS DURING THE DAY. THE FRONT WILL BEGIN CROSSING THE WATERS LATE FRI NIGHT WITH LIGHT WINDS...THEN WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE E/SE EARLY SAT AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. WW3 SHOWS HIGHEST SEAS TONIGHT...BUT WILL SUBSIDE TO 2 TO 3 FT DUE TO DIMINISHING WINDS FOR THE REST OF THE FCST PERIOD. FCSTID = 31 ILM 71 86 68 78 / 10 40 30 30 LBT 67 84 65 78 / 10 40 30 30 FLO 68 89 66 78 / 10 40 30 30 MYR 71 79 69 74 / 10 40 30 30 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. PUBLIC: RAN MARINE: JAQ
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:57 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a church steeple in Whiteville. The bolt continued down the side of the structure, blowing off sections of the downspouts and gutters.
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: 5291138.