1 flash flood, 1 high wind, 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 Sep 20, 2:36 AM CST, 7 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 336 AM CDT FRI SEP 20 2002 WIDESPREAD RAIN CONTINUES TO FLOW UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY THIS MORNING. THIS IS AHEAD OF A RATHER STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AND ITS ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT. AT EARLY MORNING...THE FRONT STRETCHED FROM SOUTHEAST MO THROUGH WESTERN AR INTO NORTHEAST TX. THE FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY THROUGH THE MIDSOUTH TODAY AND TONIGHT. RAIN TOTALS HAVE BEEN MOUNTING UP ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...AND THINK MUCH OF OUR CWFA COULD RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES BEFORE THIS EVENING. HOWEVER...THREE HOURS TOTALS INDICATED BY 88D AND SURFACE REPORTS THUS FAR HAVE REMAINED BELOW FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES. IN ADDITION...NO REPORTS OF FLOODING HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THUS WITH THE RECENT DRY SPELL...WILL NOT ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH ATTM. WILL MENTION RAIN HEAVY AT TIMES. SPC HAS MUCH OF CWFA ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OUTLOOKED FOR SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER. THINK THE BEST CHANCE WILL BE EAST OF MEMPHIS AND PROBABLY CLOSER TO THE TENNESSEE RIVER AHEAD OF THE MAIN RAIN AREA LATE THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WITH DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. DRIER AIR WILL SPILL INTO THE MIDSOUTH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH DEWPOINTS FALLING INTO THE 60S. REINFORCING AND COOLER HIGH PRESSURE WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY NIGHT. AFTER TODAY AND THIS EVENING... THINK DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL INTO MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... MEM 79/64/85/63/82 +1000 MKL 79/61/84/57/81 +2000 JBR 78/60/84/58/80 +1000 TUP 84/68/87/63/85 +31-0 .MEG...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
One house was flooded in south Memphis. Forty-four mobile homes were damaged in Frayser. Numerous streets and several underpasses were flooded.
The wall of an abandoned building collapsed in Milan.
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, September 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: 5319742, 5319743.