Damaging Wind in South Carolina, July 20, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in South Carolina, July 20, 2002
Start: 2002-07-20T20:35
End: 2002-07-20T20:35
Location: South Carolina

July 20, 2002 · NWS ILM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 12:45 PM EST, 7 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 12:45 PM EST, 7 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
145 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER CONTINUE...THO HEAT AND HUMIDITY NOT QUITE AS
OPPRESSIVE TODAY AS PREV DAYS.  BROAD SFC TROF IN PLACE OVER EASTERN
CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON...WITH UPPER VORT MAX REFLECTED NICELY BY
CLOUD BAND EXTENDING FROM NEAR RDU TO CAE TO AGS.  PLENTY OF JUICE
AVAILABLE ESP NEAR THE COAST SO WILL HAVE TO WATCH THAT...AS 1ST
PERIOD POPS WILL BE DRIVEN BY HOW MUCH CONVECTION IS ONGOING LATE
THIS AFTERNOON.

MOST OF THE NEXT 7 DAYS WILL FEATURE WEAK TROFINESS OVER THE
CAROLINAS BOTH SFC AND ALOFT.  THIS WILL KEEP TEMPS A BIT MORE IN
LINE WITH CLIMO...AND CONDITIONS A LITTLE MORE UNSETTLED.  ETA/AVN
BOTH DEVELOP A CLOSED SFC LOW OVER THE INLAND CAROLINAS DURING THE
PERIOD.   BELIEVE BOTH MODELS A BIT TOO BULLISH WITH THIS AND
THEREFORE THEIR POPS...BUT WILL GO WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
AFTERNOON/EVENING CONVECTION THRU THU.  GUIDANCE MIN TEMPS NOT BAD
BUT WILL TWEAK MAX TEMPS UP JUST A BIT.

MED RANGE MODELS TRYING TO SHUNT DEEP MOISTURE OFFSHORE BY FRI...BUT
NO REAL FRONT GETS IN HERE.  WILL GO WITH A DRY FCST FRI/SAT BUT
KEEP TEMPS SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO.

CWF:  SW FLOW TO CONTINUE.  STILL BELIEVE AVN IS OVERDOING WINDS
SOMEWHAT...AND WOULD EXPECT SEAS TO RUN A FOOT OR TWO HIGHER AT THE
BUOYS SINCE THE FETCH W/IN 20 NM IS OVER SHALLOW WATERS.  FIGURE 15
KT AND 3-4 FT THRU MOST OF THE FCST.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
ILM   76  92  75  91 /  30  30  20  30
LBT   72  93  72  92 /  30  30  20  30
FLO   74  94  73  93 /  30  30  20  30
MYR   76  89  75  88 /  30  30  20  30

.ILM...
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

RAS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 20, 5:18 PM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
618 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0555 PM    MAGNOLIA GREENS           NC   WIND GUST
07/20/02   BRUNSWICK                      WIND GUST 65 MPH.
                                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER.

0555 PM    MAGNOLIA GREENS           NC   HAIL
07/20/02   BRUNSWICK                      .75 INCH HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY TRAINED OBSERVER.

0555 PM    MAGNOLIA GREENS           NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/02   BRUNSWICK                      DAMAGE TO STEEL FRAME HOUSE
                                          UNDER CONSTRUCTION. REPORTED
                                          BT TRAINED SPOTTER.
MR

Local storm report, Jul 20, 5:26 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
626 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0615 PM    WILMINGTON                NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/02   NEW HANOVER                    TREE DOWN ON VEHICLE AT
                                          COLONIAL AND FOREST HILLS.
                                          REPORTED BY 911 DISPATCHER.

RAS

Local storm report, Jul 20, 7:58 PM EST, 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
858 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0700 PM    1 WSW SURFSIDE BEACH      SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/02   HORRY                          TREES DOWN IN DEERFIELD
                                          AREA. REPORTED BY HORRY
                                          COUNTY 911.

MR

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Horry

When: July 20, 8:35 PM EST
Where: Horry County, 2 mi W of Conway
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.833, -79.083

911 reported trees down on Hwy 378.

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 South Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in South Carolina, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5310663.