2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 9, 3:34 PM EST, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 334 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 COLD FRONT TO APPROACH THIS EVENING AND MOVE THROUGH CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT. THERE IS A SHOT OF MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. 15 MIN LIGHTNING DATA SHOWS SOME LIGHTNING IN NORTH GEORGIA. ALTHOUGH IT IS DECREASING IN AERIAL COVERAGE...THERE STILL MAY BE A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO AROUND THIS EVENING IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT. WILL KEEP 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND MENTION POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM. ACTIVITY SHOULD BE GONE BY MIDNIGHT AND DRIER COOLER AIR MOVES. HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY. MONDAY MORNING SHOULD BE THE COLDEST MORNING WITH LOWS AROUND 30 CAE AND AGS AND MAYBE IN THE UPPER 20S IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE AND COLD FRONT ENTERS AREA BY TUESDAY WITH ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS. THEN IT IS DRY AGAIN THE END OF THE WEEK. NO REAL COLD OUTBREAK THOUGH. FCSTID = 7 CAE 43 63 30 63 / 20 0 0 0 AGS 41 63 29 63 / 20 0 0 0 SSC 43 63 31 63 / 20 0 0 0 OGB 43 63 31 63 / 20 0 0 0 .CAE... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. HAWKS
SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-GAZ040-063>065- 077-100100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 320 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING 18 COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA: AIKEN... BAMBERG... BARNWELL... CALHOUN... CLARENDON... CHESTERFIELD... EDGEFIELD... FAIRFIELD... KERSHAW... LANCASTER... LEE... LEXINGTON... MCCORMICK... NEWBERRY... ORANGEBURG... RICHLAND... SALUDA... SUMTER... THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING 5 COUNTIES IN GEORGIA: BURKE... COLUMBIA... LINCOLN... MCDUFFIE... RICHMOND... ...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING... A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL MOVE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND MOVE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS EVENING. THE FEW LOCATIONS THAT EXPERIENCE THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY HAVE OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...WIND GUSTS NEAR 35 MPH...AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE-QUARTER OF AN INCH. A WIND GUST NEAR 60 MPH COULD POSSIBLY OCCUR. CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:36 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sheriff reported trees down west to north of saluda.
Fire dept. reported powerlines down and a large highway sign down on I-26 near St. Andrews.
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, March 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: 5285267, 5285268.