Flooding in Puerto Rico, September 16, 2002

Name: Flooding in Puerto Rico, September 16, 2002
Start: 2002-09-16T01:00
End: 2002-09-16T04:00
Location: Puerto Rico

September 16, 2002 · NWS SJU · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A tropical wave caused heavy rains and strong gusty winds over parts of eastern Puerto Rico and the island of Vieques. Several roads were flooded in Fajardo and Vieques.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 tropical wave caused heavy rains and strong gusty winds over parts of eastern Puerto Rico and the island of Vieques. Several roads were flooded in Fajardo and Vieques.

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 Sep 15, 10:00 PM AST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 10:00 PM AST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1000 PM AST SUN SEP 15 2002

SINCE TD#10 HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED TO AN OPEN WAVE AND SINCE THE
WAVE IS MOVING SO FAST AND IS NOW ALONG 70W THERE IS LIGHT AT THE
END OF THE TUNNEL AND IT IS NOT THE HEADLIGHT OF AN ONCOMING
TRAIN IT IS DRIER AIR WHICH CAN BE SEEN ON THE SATELLITE
IMAGERIES AND BY THE LAST FEW RADAR SCANS. I WILL MAKE SOME
ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE FORECAST TO LOWER SLIGHTLY
THE POPS AND AREAL COVERAGE OVER THE CARIBBEAN SEA AND TO
DECREASE THE WIND SPEEDS AND TO DROP DOWN THE SEAS ONE TO TWO FEET.
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 03Z AND WILL NOT BE
RENEWED. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL EXPIRE AT 0800Z. THE
DEEPEST CONVECTION IS OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN NORTH OF
PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS MOVING AWAY.

EQUIPMENT: NO OTHER PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME.

.SJU...
.PR...SCA AMZ710>740. FFA PRZ001>013 TIL 16/08Z.
.VI...SCA AMZ710>730. FFA VIZ001>002 TIL 16/08Z.

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

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northeast

When: September 16, 1:00 AM AST to 4:00 AM AST
Where: Northeast County, East Portion
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, Vieques

When: September 16, 1:00 AM AST to 4:00 AM AST
Where: Vieques County, Countywide
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, September 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: 5320148, 5320149.