Name: Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, June 22, 2002
Start: 2002-06-22T14:15
End: 2002-06-22T14:20
Location: Rhode Island

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $2,000
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 BOX wrote it up.

A severe thunderstorm downed large branches and wires in Scituate. In West Glocester, a lifeguard was struck by lightning as the storms moved through, and was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.

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 Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 1:55 PM EST, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 1:55 PM EST, 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
255 PM EDT SAT JUN 22 2002

...A COUPLE OF CONVECTIVE EPISODES THIS WEEKEND AND THEN PSBLY MORE
UNSETTLED WX MID TO LATE COMING WEEK...

NR TERM ISSUES WITH THIS FCST PCKG CONCERN RISK OF ANY LCLY
EXCESSIVE RAFL WITH TSTMS AS WELL AS ANY ISOLD STG TSTMS THAT MAY
DVLP ALG SRN EDGE OF ACTIVITY.  SHWRS/TSTMS MA PIKE NWD THIS
AFTN/EVE IN JUICY AIR MASS WITH MDT INSTBLTY AND LOW LVL MOISTURE
CONVRG. DWPTS AT OR RISING INTO UPR 60S OVR MUCH OF SNE AND PRECIP
WATER AXIS OF ARND 1.7 INCHES ACRS NRN MA. SWD DRIFTING CLD/SUN BNDRY
HELPING PROVIDE FOCUS THIS AFTN/ERLY EVE. SOME HELP PSBL FM SEA
BRZ BNDRY E CNTL MA AS WELL.  WINDS GENLY 20 KTS OR LESS THRU H5 LVL.
BELIEVE ISOLD 1-2 IN/HR OR 3+ IN/6 HRS PSBL 18Z-02Z PRD...WITH AREA
OF GRTST CONCERN ALG AND N OF MA PIKE TO VT/NH BORDER AREA. RISK OF
ISOLD SVR LATE THIS AFTN/ERLY EVE ALG SRN EDGE OF MOST ACTIVITY WHERE
INSTBLTY GRTST...MNLY AREA BOUNDED BY BAF-ORH-OWD-SFZ-IJD-BDL. WIND
FIELD NOT FVRBL BUT CANT RULE OUT ISOLD PULSE STORM WITH LCLY MRGNL
HAIL OR MICROBURST THRT. IF ANYTHING OCCURS...ANTICIPATE MOST LKLY
ALG AND S OF MA PIKE TO HFD-SFZ-OWD LN.

MRGNL INSTBLTY IN MOIST AIR MASS COMB WITH WK BNDRY IN AREA FOR
THRT OF SHWRS/TSTMS MOST ZONES OVRNGT.  XPCT RATHER MILD/MUGGY NGT
WITH DWPTS MID/UPR 60S MOST LOCATIONS.

SUN FEATURES VRY WARM SW FLOW WITH ENUF OFFSHORE COMPONENT TO BUMP
TEMPS E MA COAST TO 85 TO 90 RANGE.  POTENTIAL WNW FLOW SVR EVENT
NRN PORTION AREA SUN EVE AS COLD FRNT AND UPR S/W TROF MOVS RAPIDLY
THRU SUN NGT.  INSTBLTY AS PER CAPE OF 1000-1500 J/KG...FRNTL FORCING
AND STGR MID LVL WIND FIELD SET STAGE FOR PSBL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS
WITH ISOLD LG HAIL 22Z-03Z TIMEFRAME SUN EVE...MNLY ALG AND N OF BVY-
ORE LN. ANOTHER CONCERN IS THAT ETA CONTS TO GIVE HELICITY VALUES OVR
250 00Z-06Z. ANTICIPATE ONE OR TWO FAST MOVG AND WKNG SQL LNS.
INSTBLTY AND WIND FIELDS LESS FVRBL SRN PORTION FCST AREA...ALTHO MAY
RCH SMW CRIT AT LEAST AS FAR S AS PYM-CQX LN LATE SUN EVE.

FRNT MOVS OFFSHR MON BUT CUD HANG UP JUST S OF AREA.  ETA DRIES SNE
OUT BUT AVN KEEPS CT ZNS IN UNSTBL AIR MASS.  AVN MAY HAV RIGHT IDEA
GIVEN STRNGTH OF RIDGE TO OUR S. MAY INDCT CHC LT AFTN TSTM OUR CT
ZNS MON.

WILL KEEP TUE DRY FOR NOW...ALTHO BNDRY NOT THAT FAR TO SW.  BNDRY
LIFTTS NEWD TUE NGT/WED...AND LOOKS LIKE ENUF INSTBLTY...MOISTURE
AND ISENTROPIC LIFT FOR CHC SHWRS/TSTMS WED AFTN.  PSBL THAT SOME
ENERGY/MOISTURE FM CURRENT SE US SYS MAY WORK ITS WAY THRU MISS/OH
VLYS INTO SNE BY WED ADDING TO QPF POT.

XTNDD...12Z AVN RUN HAS BACKED OFF FM 00Z OPTNL MRF RUN ON AMPLITUDE
OF H5 OVR NE US THU.  EVEN SO...STILL LOOKS UNSTLD WITH AT LEAST
FRNTL BNDRY THRU AREA.  12Z AVN HINTING AT SECOND S/W TROF ROTATG
OUT OF CNTRL CANADA...THAT MRF USES TO HELP CARVE SGNFCNT UPR TRO
OVR OUR AREA TWD WEEKEND.  CSDBL UNCERTAINTY WITH RESPECT TO
MAGNITUDE OF UPR TROF AND LOCATION OF ANY ASSOCTD SFC LOW...BUT
OVRL TREND SEEMS TO FAVOR UNSTLD PATTRN THU THRU SAT.

MARINE...SW FLOW INCRS LATE SUN...AND MAY RCH SCA CRIT S COAST
SUN EVE.  POT FOR SMW CRIT FM CONVCTN SUN EVE...SPCLY N OF PYM-CQX
LN.

.BOX...
CT...NONE.
MA...NONE.
NH...NONE.
RI...NONE.
MARINE...SCA MAY BE REQD S COAST WATERS AND PVC-ACK ZN SUN NGT.

THOMPSON/BELK

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Providence

When: June 22, 2:15 PM EST
Where: Providence County, Scituate
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 41.800, -71.600

Lightning, Providence

When: June 22, 2:20 PM EST
Where: Providence County, West Glocester
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Rhode Island in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Rhode Island, June 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: 5302855, 5302856.