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 Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 1:45 PM CST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 245 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002 MAIN FORECAST CHALLANGES TONIGHT WILL BE REDEVELOPMENT OF FOG ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL...AND CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...BOTH ACROSS THE NORTH WITH THE APPROACH OF THE WEAK COLD FRONT...AND ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST WHERE MONTANA/WYOMING/SOUTH DAKOTA ACTIVITY MAY DRIFT LATER THIS EVENING. THE ACTIVITY ACROSS THE NORTH SHOULD BE ISOLATED AND MAINLY FOR THE EVENING HOURS...WHILE THE SOUTHWEST STORMS MAY LAST A FEW MORE HOURS INTO THE NIGHT. MID LEVEL RIDGING WILL CONTINUE THE WEAK WINDFLOW ALOFT AND KEEP SURFACE AIR STAGNANT SO AREAS OF FOG ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE FROM BISMARCK TO JAMESTOWN... ALTHOUGH FOG MAY NOT BE AS WIDESPREAD OR DENSE. WEAK SHORT WAVE ENERGY MOVING NORTHEAST INTO WYOMING/SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA IN WEAK DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT. UNSTABLE AIR MAY EXTEND INTO SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA WHERE DENSE FOG DID NOT FORM LAST NIGHT. WILL MRNTION ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS THIS EVENING/EARLY TONIGHT SOUTHWEST AND NORTH. ON SATURDAY...SIMILAR WEATHER PATTERN SHOULD RESULT IN ADDITIONAL LATE AFTERNOON/NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN THIRD OF THE STATE. AS PACIFIC NORTHWEST UPPER LOW MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...SHOULD SEE BETTER CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION. IN THE EXTENDED...WILL LEAVE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN EARLY EXTENDED PERIOD...MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AS UPPER LOE CONTINUES TO CARVE A CYCLONIC FLOW PATTERN OVER THE REGION. WILL KEEP THE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY PERIOD DRY. .BIS...NONE W ABELING
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
435 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0415 PM CARPIO ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/23/02 WARD REPORTED BY ARB OBSERVER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
444 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0420 PM 4 NW FOXHOLM ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/23/02 WARD REPORTED BY AIR FORCE
STAFF. WIND 50-60 MPH.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
546 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0545 PM TOWNER ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/23/02 MCHENRY REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning destroyed 4-400 barrel gas and oil storage tanks.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, August 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: 5310425.