Name: Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 2, 2002
Start: 2002-05-02T18:20
End: 2002-05-02T18:20
Location: Virginia

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MRX wrote it up.

Trees reported down in Rockdell.

What forecasters said that day

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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 2, 2:10 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 2:10 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
310 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES AS COLD FRONT BARRELS THROUGH THE
FORECAST AREA LATER TODAY AND THEN STALLS OUT NEAR THE TN/GA STATE
LINE. THIS BOUNDARY WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR A CONTINUED THREAT OF
PRECIP ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH
EARLY SATURDAY. A SHORTWAVE WILL APPROACH THE AREA LATE FRIDAY/EARLY
SATURDAY WHICH WILL INDUCE OVER-RUNNING PRECIP OVER THE ENTIRE
FORECAST AREA. THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EASTWARD AND BE
ESSENTIALLY OUT OF THE AREA BY MID-DAY SATURDAY. TIME-HEIGHTS SHOW A
DEEP MOISTURE PROFILE FOR EARLY SATURDAY WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER
OVER 1.5 INCHES PROJECTED BY THE MESOETA FORECAST SOUNDINGS.

HAVE TENDED TO FAVOR AVN MOS FOR BOTH TEMPS AND POPS FOR DAYS 1-3.

FCSTID = 23
PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOLLOW:
CHA   61  70  55  71 /  70  40  70  50
TYS   55  67  50  67 /  70  40  60  40
TRI   50  64  46  61 /  70  20  50  30
OQT   55  67  50  67 /  70  40  60  40

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 208 ALL COUNTIES.
VA...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 208 ALL COUNTIES.

LCM

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 2, 5:13 PM EST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
613 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0605 PM    ROCKWOOD                  TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/02/02   ROANE                          REPORTED BY DISPATCH.

DAE

Local storm report, May 2, 5:24 PM EST, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
624 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0620 PM    PIKEVILLE                 TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/02/02   BLEDSOE                        TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          DISPATCH.

DAE

Local storm report, May 2, 5:56 PM EST, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
656 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0640 PM    SPRING CITY               TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/02/02   RHEA                           TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          DISPATCH.

0650 PM    DECATUR                   TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/02/02   MEIGS                          TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          DISPATCH.

DAE

Local storm report, May 2, 6:03 PM EST, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
703 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0645 PM    POWELL                    TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/02/02   KNOX                           TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          DISPATCH.

DAE

Local storm report, May 2, 6:10 PM EST, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
710 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0707 PM    OAK RIDGE                 TN   .75 INCH HAIL
05/02/02   ANDERSON                       REPORTED BY SPOTTERS.

DAE

Local storm report, May 2, 6:12 PM EST, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
712 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0702 PM    ROCKWOOD                  TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/02/02   ROANE                          TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTERS

DAE

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 145 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Russell

When: May 2, 6:20 PM EST
Where: Russell County, Rockdell
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.883, -81.933

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, May 2002

Sources

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: 5297908.