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 Jul 30, 9:06 AM CST, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1006 AM CDT TUE JUL 30 2002 SHEAR AXIS FM THE OH VALLEY TO NW AR THIS MORNING. TSTMS TRYING TO DEVELOP ACRS NE AR WHILE MORE ORGANIZED CONVECTION STRETCHES ACRS WRN AR. UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH DECENT MOISTURE SHOULD ALLOW FOR AFTN DEVELOPMENT...ESPECIALLY ACRS NE AR INVOF OF SHEAR AXIS. SHEAR AXIS WL DRIFT SE INTO THE CWFA THROUGH THE AFTN AND EVENING PROVIDING A TRIGGER FOR TSTMS. CURRENT FORECAST ON TRACK. WL UPDATE TO REMOVE AFTN WORDING. MEG...NONE. SJM
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:47 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
One man was killed by a lightning strike while outside working at his home.
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, Carroll | 2002-07-30 | 66 | 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, July 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: 5311760.