A lightning strike on the afternoon of the 22nd started a wildfire about 6 miles east of Port Republic in Rockingham County. The wildfire burned at least 800 acres between Rocktop Trail and Big Run in Rockingham County before being brought under control on the 27th.
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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 episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A lightning strike on the afternoon of the 22nd started a wildfire about 6 miles east of Port Republic in Rockingham County. The wildfire burned at least 800 acres between Rocktop Trail and Big Run in Rockingham County before being brought under control on the 27th. The fire was able to spread to such a large area because of drought conditions and ample dry brush.
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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 1:23 PM EST, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 223 PM EDT SAT JUN 22 2002 NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS IMPLY A WRMING OF THE ATMOSPHERE AS HIGH PRES BUILDS OVR THE RGN. NO POPS. SCT CLDS...BKN AT BEST. WELCOME TO SUMMER... WOODY MON AND BEYOND...SUMMER WILL BE HERE IN FULL FORCE BY MON. 850MB TMPS AROUND 20C BY MON AFTERNOON WITH W FLOW. FWC HAS DEWPTS AROUND 70 AT DCA WITH A HIGH OF 96. WITH THE DWNSLP WILL PROB END UP BEING A FEW DEGS LESS ON THE DWPT AND A DEGREE OR TWO ON THE MAX. WITH THE 500 CUT OFF LOW MEANDERING AROUND THE SE US AND A RIDGE OVR US...DON/T SEE MUCH CHC OF PRECIP EXCPT FOR POSSBLY SOME ISOLATED RIDGETOP TSTMS WITH THE INC LOW LVL MOISTURE. WILL LEAVE THE 30 POP FOR THE W ALONE FOR NOW. BY WED NORTHERN STREAM WAVE PASSES THRU NEW ENGLD...TAPPNG SOME THE MOISTURE FROM THE GULF LOW. THAT LOOKS LIKE OUR BEST CHC AT PRECIP NOW... AVN IS PROB A BIT OVRDNE WITH IT HOWEVER. WILL HAVE CHC POPS FOR WED AND THU...THN CLRNG OUT ON FRI. IF THE MRF HOLDS TRUE... SAT WILL BE COOLR AND DRY WITH NW FLOW AND A SFC LOW OFF THE BOS COAST. STRONG .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire burned at least 800 acres between Rocktop Trail and Big Run in Shenandoah National Park.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, June 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: 5301972.