Funnel Cloud in Puerto Rico, March 29, 2002

Name: Funnel Cloud in Puerto Rico, March 29, 2002
Start: 2002-03-29T17:00
End: 2002-03-29T17:15
Location: Puerto Rico

March 29, 2002 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A weather spotter sighted two funnel clouds off the coast of Hatillo.

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.

A weather spotter sighted two funnel clouds off the coast of Hatillo.

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 29, 4:19 PM AST, 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 4:19 PM AST, 41 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
330 PM AST FRI MAR 29 2002

THE COMPUTER MODELS STUBBORNLY HOLD ON TO THE UPPER LEVEL
TROUGHING AND UPPER LEVEL CYCLONIC CIRCULATION THROUGH
TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. THIS TIME IT DOES APPEAR THAT AN
END TO THE UNSTABLE WEATHER PATTERN IS IN SIGHT. FIRST
THOUGH THE EASTER WEEKEND MUST PASS AND IT MAY BE EXCITING.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL IN THE FORECAST. THE
ACTIVE AREAS NOW SHOULD BE EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN
PUERTO RICO AND THE ISLANDS OF CULEBRA AND VIEQUES AND ALL
OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS SAT AND SUN. THERE IS NOW A MORE
NORTHERLY COMPONENT TO THE STEERING FLOW WHICH WILL BECOME
MORE APPARENT ON THE WEEKEND. ALTHOUGH MOISTURE IS NOT
AS ABUNDANT AS IT WAS PREVIOUS DAYS THERE IS SUFFICIENT
AND STRONG ENOUGH DYNAMICS COUPLED WITH THE DIURNAL
HEATING CYCLE TO PROVIDE THE LIFT NECESSARY FOR THE
CONVECTION TO GET STARTED. LOOK FOR ACTIVE AFTERNOONS
SAT AND SUN.

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 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Northwest

When: March 29, 5:00 PM AST to 5:15 PM AST
Where: Northwest County, Hatillo
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5285725.