Damaging Wind in Puerto Rico, March 28, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Puerto Rico, March 28, 2002
Start: 2002-03-28T13:15
End: 2002-03-28T13:25
Location: Puerto Rico

March 28, 2002 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

General public reported pea size hail in Rio Piedras sector in San Juan and in Guaynabo.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.

General public reported pea size hail in Rio Piedras sector in San Juan and in Guaynabo.

What forecasters said that day

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 San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 28, 11:03 AM AST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 11:03 AM AST, 2 hours 12 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1100 AM AST THU MAR 28 2002

I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE 08Z-10Z
FORECASTS. THE PAST 2 DAYS THE FORECASTS WERE HIGH ON THE POPS
DUE TO THE DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT IS NEGATIVELY TILTED AND
BROAD AT ITS SOUTHERN END EXTENDING FROM THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC
STATES TO BERMUDA TO PUERTO RICO TO VENEZUELA. SEVERAL STRONG
SHORT/WAVES PASSING NW TO SE ARE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE
SHOWERS AND TSTMS THAT CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THE MAIN TROUGH.
GIVEN THE INFLUX OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTHEAST AND THE CURRENT
UNSTABLE AIR MASS THAT WE ARE IN IT WILL BE MOST INTERESTING TO
SEE HOW THE AFTERNOON ENDS UP. ALL EYES ARE ON THE DOPPLER RADAR.
AT THIS TIME EVERYTHING IS QUIET.

EQUIPMENT: NO PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME.

.SJU...
.PR...NONE.
.VI...NONE.

17

WRITTEN TEXT FORECASTS (IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH)...SATELLITE IMAGERY
...DOPPLER RADAR DATA...AND A VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF WEATHER INFORMATION
CAN BE FOUND AT THE NWS SAN JUAN WEB SITE AT:

HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU (ALL LOWER CASE).

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, San Juan and Vicinity

When: March 28, 1:15 PM AST to 1:25 PM AST
Where: San Juan and Vicinity County, Central Portion
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, March 2002

Sources

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: 5285724.