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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 8:50 AM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 950 AM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002 NOT MUCH GOING ON THIS MORNING. A FEW SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA AND ARE MOVING NORTH. MEANWHILE COLD FRONT NOW EXTENDS FROM NORTHERN OHIO INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI. CURRENT FORECAST SEEMS TO HAVE A HANDLE ON THE WEATHER SO NO CHANGES ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. .MEG...NONE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two persons will killed when lightning struck their farm.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Gibson | 2002-08-23 | 45 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Lightning, Gibson | 2002-08-23 | 44 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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: 5315488.