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 Sep 10, 10:00 AM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 1100 AM EDT TUE SEP 10 2002 LOOKS LIKE THE WIND FIELD WITH NOW TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV HAS CONTRACTED AS WE ARE SEEING LESS GRADIENT WIND THEN WE DID YSTDY. WE ARE GETTING A GOOD RADAR FIX ON THE CENTER AND THE STORM LOOKS LIKE ITS MOVING SLOWLY N. ALTHOUGH WIND FIELDS HAVE SHRUNK...THE STORM IS FORECAST TO SLOWLY STRENGTHEN SO WE WILL HAVE TO CONTEND WITH TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS...ESP IN GUSTS...FOR THE NEXT 6-12 HOURS. WE JUST RECEIVED A REPORT OF A WIND GUST OF 62 MPH AT THE OCRACOKE FERRY TERMINAL. COASTAL FLOODING THREAT WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE SRN PORTION OF THE PAMLICO SOUND WHERE WATER LEVELS OF 4 TO 5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ARE STILL POSSIBLE. WITH THE SMALLER WIND FIELD...THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED FROM DOWNEAST CARTERET COUNTY ACROSS THE PAMLICO SOUND TO THE OUTER BANKS. WATER LEVELS ARE STILL FORECAST TO RUN 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL AT HIGH TIDE ALONG THE OUTER BANKS WITH SOME WATER POSSIBLE ON HIGHWAY 12. WE WRESTLED OVER TAKING DOWN THE WIND ADVY WELL INLAND BUT WE ARE CONCERNED THAT RAIN BAND SQUALLS COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH...SO IT WILL CONTINUE. FAVORABLE NE STORM QUAD FOR TORNADOES WILL REMAIN OFFSHORE...BUT LOW LEVEL HELICITIES ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE AN ISOLD TORNADO. 3 TO 5 INCHES OF RAINFALL ARE STILL EXPECTED...MAINLY ALONG THE COAST...BUT LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND WILL ISSUE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS IF FLOODING LOOKS IMMINENT. CWF...TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH AND SLOWLY STRENGTHEN. LITTLE CHANGE IN FCST TRACK...SO WILL KEEP CURRENT FCST WITH MINOR CHANGES. WILL BREAK OUT COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE LOOKOUT SOUTH TO SURF CITY TO REFLECT DECREASING WINDS AND SEAS AS GUSTAV MOVES NORTH...WITH TROPICAL STORM WARNING CONTINUING THROUGH THE AFTN. .MHX...WND ADVY (MARTIN PITT LENOIR GREENE JONES DUPLIN)...TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS ELSEWHERE. JME/RP
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:02 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The North Carolina Ferry Division reported a waterspout that moved onshore in Silver Lake in Ocracoke. Only minor roof damage to a couple of buildings was reported.
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, September 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: 5316596.