Damaging Winds in Puerto Rico, September 20, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Puerto Rico, September 20, 2002
Start: 2002-09-20T14:00
End: 2002-09-20T16:00
Location: Puerto Rico

September 20, 2002 · NWS SJU · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong thunderstorms occurred during the afternoon across the northern sections of Puerto Rico. The areas most affected were San Juan, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta where small hail was observed.

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.

Strong thunderstorms occurred during the afternoon across the northern sections of Puerto Rico. The areas most affected were San Juan, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta where small hail was observed. Strong gusty winds knocked down tree branches in Rio Piedras sector in San Juan.

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 20, 11:59 AM AST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 11:59 AM AST, 2 hours 1 minute before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1159 AM AST FRI SEP 20 2002

EXPECT A MIXTURE OF SUNSHINE AND CLOUDINESS ACROSS FA THIS
AFTERNOON. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
WILL DEVELOP...ESPECIALLY OVER THE INTERIOR AND NORTH SECTIONS OF
PUERTO RICO. THINK THAT PARTS OF THE SAN JUAN METRO AREA COULD BE
PRIMED FOR CONVECTION AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON...GIVEN THE SOUTH TO
SOUTHWEST FLOW THROUGH THE LOWEST 9K-10K FEET ON THE 12Z TJSJ
SOUNDING. INHERITED ZFP HAD A GOOD HANDLE ON EXPECTED WEATHER FOR
THIS AFTERNOON...BUT SENT A QUICK UPDATE TO ALTER SKY COVER AND POPS
SLIGHTLY AND TO FRESHEN WORDING IN MOST ZONES.

FOR COASTAL WATERS...MADE A FEW MINOR SEMANTIC ALTERATIONS TO
PREVIOUS CWF...OTHERWISE NO CHANGES.

EQUIPMENT: NO PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME.

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

SEELEY

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 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, San Juan and Vicinity

When: September 20, 2:00 PM AST to 4:00 PM AST
Where: San Juan and Vicinity County, Central Portion
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Thunderstorm Wind, Northeast

When: September 20, 2:00 PM AST to 4:00 PM AST
Where: Northeast County, East 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, 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: 5320152, 5320153.