1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 9:15 AM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 1015 AM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 SHORT WAVE APPROACHING THE AREA FROM WESTERN NC SHOULD PROVIDE SOME FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. DEEP WESTERLY FLOW IN VWP SHOULD RESULT IN SOME FALLING OF DEWPOINTS THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...THERE STILL WILL BE SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY FOR WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION. WITH LOWER DEWPOINTS...HEAT ADVISORY APPEARS TO BE IN JEOPARDY. STILL MAY REACH 105 THRESHOLD FOR AN HOUR OR TWO IN SOME LOCATIONS BUT THREE OR MORE HOURS LOOKS DOUBTFUL. ADVISORY WILL BE DROPPED THIS PACKAGE AND REPLACED WITH A STATEMENT FOR INDEX VALUES OF 100 TO 105. TEMPERATURES WILL BE TWEAKED AS NEEDED AFTER 11 AM OBSERVATIONS. CHC POPS WILL BE MAINTAINED. CWF: WILL GO WITH S TO SW WINDS OF 15 TO 20 KT THIS AFTERNOON. SEAS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 3 FT NEAR SHORE TO 5 FT AT 20 MILES. RAN -----------------------------PREVIOUS DISCUSSION----------------- CLOSE CALL ON HEAT INDICES THIS AFTERNOON. I AM GOING TO FORGO ADVISORY INLAND AREAS GIVEN ANTICIPATED CLOUD COVER AND HEADLINE HEAT INDICES NEAR 100. ALONG THE COAST...DEWPOINTS ARE SO HIGH AND CLOUD COVER WILL TEND TO THIN AS IT HEADS EAST AND SO WILL PUT UP AN ADVISORY ALONG THE COAST FOR HEAT INDEX AROUND 105. PROSPECTS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LOOKING PRETTY GOOD WITH POTENT SHORT WAVE NOW OVER E TENNESSEE EXPECTED TO SLOWLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES E AND THEN NE ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. TAIL END OF SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO AREA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. LIMITING FACTOR TODAY MAY BE LACK OF INSTABILITY AND WARM TEMPERATURES AT MID LEVELS (11 C) AND WEAK CAPPING AROUND 750 MB. THIS CAP BREAKS DOWN THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AND WITH PRECIPITABLE WATERS OVER 2 INCHES...COULD BE SOME HEAVY RAIN MAKERS. BEST INSTABILITY DURING THE LATE EVENING HOURS WHERE MODEL SOUNDINGS GIVING CAPES OF 2500 /KG AS H5 TEMPERATURES FALL TO -8 AND H7 FROM 11 C TO 7 C. SOUNDING STRONGLY TAKES ON AN INVERTED V STRUCTURE AND SO MAY BE SOME MICROBURSTS. WINDS ALOFT NO STRONGER THAN 30 KT AT H5. SERIES OF SHORT WAVES AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE TOPPING BUILDING RIDGE IN WEST THIS FORECAST PERIOD. TIMING OF THESE SHORT WAVES DIFFICULT BUT SAFE TO SAY THREAT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY AND NIGHT. AVN ACTUALLY CUTS OFF UPPER LOW ACROSS SE U.S. AS JET LIFTS SLIGHTLY N ACROSS MIDWEST AND NE U.S. THIS FEATURE OPENS UP AND LIFTS SLOWLY TO NE AND OFF THE NC CAROLINA-VIRGINIA COAST DURING WEDNESDAY. I PLAN ON 40 TO 50 POPS INTO WEDNESDAY AND THEN WILL CUT BACK TO SLIGHT CHANCE REMAINDER OF PERIOD...BUT CAN NOT ELIMINATE POPS GIVEN NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN SYNOPTIC PATTERN WITH RIDGE IN WEST AND TROUGH ALONG EASTERN 1/4 OF THE COUNTRY. CWF...BUOYS REPORTING SW WIND 15 TO 20 KT AND 4 TO 5 FT SEAS. OMRS WSW 10 TO 15 KT. GRADIENT WILL CHANGE LITTLE THROUGH TONIGHT AND SO WIND AND SEAS SHOULD REMAIN NEAR CURRENT CONDITIONS. BERMUDA RIDGE TO E AND SHARPENING TROUGH AXIS TO W WILL AGAIN INCREASE SLACKENED GRADIENT FOR SUN NIGHT/MON BY TUE/WED. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... ILM 96 77 91 76 / 40 50 50 40 LBT 96 74 93 74 / 40 50 50 40 FLO 97 75 94 75 / 40 50 50 40 MYR 94 77 89 76 / 40 50 50 40 .ILM... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. DIGIORGI
NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-202200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 1126 AM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002 ...HEAT INDICES TO EXCEED 100 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON... HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON WILL RANGE FROM NEAR 90 DEGREES ALONG THE BEACHES TO THE UPPER 90S IN THE HOTTEST INLAND LOCATIONS. THE HUMIDITY WILL BE PARTICULARLY OPPRESSIVE NEAR THE COAST...WHERE THE HEAT INDEX WILL REACH 100 TO 105 DEGREES. ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMER INLAND...LOWER HUMIDITY WILL CAUSE THE HEAT INDEX TO TOP OUT NEAR 100 DEGREES IN LOCATIONS SUCH AS FLORENCE... LUMBERTON...AND WHITEVILLE. HEAT CRAMPS...HEAT EXHAUSTION...AND DEHYDRATION ARE ALL POSSIBLE WITH PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THE HEAT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. TAKE THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT YOURSELF. STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED BUILDING IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST BE OUTSIDE... DRESS IN LIGHTWEIGHT...LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. THOSE WORKING OUTDOORS SHOULD REDUCE THEIR LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AND TAKE FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN THE SHADE. MAKE SURE OUTDOOR PETS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER AND ACCESS TO SHADE. ALSO...NEVER LEAVE A PET OR A CHILD INSIDE A PARKED VEHICLE WITH THE WINDOWS CLOSED. ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/ILM RAN
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning cause a fire at the Chuck Wagon Restaurant on Kings Highway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, July 2002
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: 5310673.