1 flash flood, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 1:59 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 259 PM CDT SUN AUG 18 2002 OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM EARLIER MCS TRIGGERING STORMS ACRS MUCH OF THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE MID SOUTH. BOUNDARY MOVING SOUTH INTO VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR...WITH DEWPOINTS AS HIGH AS 77F...CAPES 4000 J/KG AND LIFTED INDICES TO -10C. THREAT OF TSTM DEVELOPMENT WL CONT INTO THE EVENING HOURS AS BOUNDARY CONTS TO MOVE SOUTH INTO JUICY AIRMASS. MORE BOUNDARIES WL BE PRODUCED FROM THE CURRENT ROUND OF TSTMS BUT LOSS OF HEATING WL DAMPEN FUTURE ACTIVITY LATER IN THE EVENING. WL GO WITH NUMEROUS TSTMS NORTH OF MEMPHIS...SCT TSTMS FROM MEM TO SAVANNAH AND ISOLATED ACRS MOST OF NE MS. THE WEAK SHORTWAVE THAT LOCATED ALONG THE TN/MS BORDER NOT PRODUCING MUCH ATTM. MAY SEE SOME ISOLATED ACTIVITY ACRS NE MS ASSOCD WITH THIS DURING THE EVENING. EXPECT SIMILAR LOW TO THE LAST FEW NIGHT...IN THE LOW TO MID 70S. MONDAY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A REPEAT OF TODAY. ANOTHER MCS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT IN THE MID MS VALLEY OVERNIGHT AND INTO THE MORNING HOURS. AS A RESULT MORE BOUNDARIES MAY MOVE INTO THE NRN PART OF THE MID SOUTH MONDAY MORNING. ALSO...LEFT OVER BOUNDARIES FROM CURRENT CONVECTION WL LEAVE BEHIND BOUNDARIES THAT COULD BE USED TO TRIGGER STORMS DURING AFTN HEATING. WL GO WITH SCT POPS ACRS NRN TIER WITH ISOLATED POPS SRN HALF. TEMPS IN THE LOWER 90S. BY TUE...UPPER RIDGE GAINING STRENGTH ACRS THE REGION. AVN IS BACKING OFF ON THE BACK DOOR COLD FRONT SOLUTION. MID SOUTH LIKELY TO STAY IN WARM...HUMID AIRMASS THROUGH THE WEEK. WL KEEP THE FORECAST DRY TUE THROUGH FRI THOUGH ISOLD AFTN TSTMS POSSIBLE CONSIDERING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS. TEMPS WL PROBABLY STAY IN THE LOWER 90S...HIGH DEWPOINTS AND RECENT RAINS WL KEEP TEMPS FROM CLIMBING TOO MUCH THOUGH IT WILL STILL BE UNCOMFORTABLE. MRF AND ECMWF BOTH INDICATE STRONG SHORTWAVE DIVING ACRS THE GREAT LAKES AND SENDING A WEAK FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ON SAT. CURRENT CHC OF TSTMS FORECAST LOOKS FINE. DRY...COOL HIGH PRESSURE ACRS THE UPPER MS VALLEY MAY SETTLED INTO THE REGION BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK BRING MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE HUMIDITY LEVELS. .MEG...NONE SJM
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of street were flooded.
A house was damaged by a fire started by lightning.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, August 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: 5315403, 5315404.