2 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 Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 9:17 AM CST, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 1017 AM CDT SAT AUG 24 2002 14Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED NEAR DOTHAN, ALABAMA, WITH SURFACE FRONT ENTERING WESTERN KENTUCKY AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS SOME CUMULUS STARTING TO DEVELOP ACROSS OUR NORTHERN ZONES, BUT WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES STILL COVERING NEARLY ALL OF THE LOCAL AREA. THIS WILL ALLOW MAXIMUM SURFACE HEATING TO TAKE PLACE. MORNING SOUNDING FROM OHX SHOWS AN ATMOSPHERE RIPE FOR CONVECTION, WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER 1.99 INCHES, LIFTED INDEX (LI) OF -6.4, K-INDEX OF 40, AND CONVECTIVE AVAILABLE POTENTIAL ENERGY (CAPE) OF 3,093 J/KG. LI/CAPE PLOTS SHOW THE MOST UNSTABLE AIR AROUND THE LAWRENCEBURG/WAYNESBORO AREAS. AT THIS TIME, BELIEVE ZONE FORECAST PRODUCT IS IN GOOD SHAPE, WITH THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY PEGGED FOR THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE, NO CHANGES FOR THE FORECAST ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. .BNA...NONE. ROSE
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:32 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning bolt hit a home at the end of Woodlawn Ave. Two people were inside the home, but they were able to leave the house before the fire spread. The home was a total loss.
A 16-year-old girl was struck by lightning. She was working at the Taco Bell, and when it began to rain, she ran outside to roll up the windows on her pickup truck. After she rolled the windows up, she began to lock the door, then the lightning struck the truck. The electrical charge went through her arm and knocked her down. She was taken across the street to Maury Regional Hospital. She was kept overnight as a precaution. Ms. Ruby Nicole Byrd's comment after her ordeal was "I would like to tell everyone that if it's thundering and lightning, don't go out in it."
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: 5313561, 5313632.