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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 5, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 230 PM PDT THU SEP 5 2002 .SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL REMAIN OFFSHORE THROUGH FRIDAY... TRIGGERING SOME SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE TROUGH WILL BEGIN SHIFTING INLAND OVER THE WEEKEND...AND A WEAK RIDGE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY. A SERIES OF WEAK FRONTS WILL LIKELY BEGIN MOVING THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION...ISOLATED CONVECTION IS DEVELOPING MAINLY OVER THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES CREST...BUT AGAIN WRN WA IS IN THE MOSTLY QUIET AREA BETWEEN THE UPPER LOW TO OUR SW AND THE BAROCLINIC JET TO THE E. THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO DIG SWD ALONG 130W NEAR 42N. FURTHER W THERE IS A SHORTWAVE RIDGE ALONG 140W AHEAD OF THE MORE ACTIVE ZONAL FLOW OF THE NRN BRANCH. THE MODELS SHOW SLIGHTLY BETTER DYNAMICS OVER WRN WA FRI...AS THE VORT MAX CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THE SW QUADRANT OF THE LOW ROTATES OVER THE AREA. THEY ALSO INDICATE THAT SOME MOISTURE WILL BE DRAWN UP FROM THE S...AND THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF THE JET MIGHT EVEN GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO HELP A LITTLE. EVEN SO THE CONVECTION WILL MOSTLY BE LIMITED TO DIURNALLY FORCED AIR MASS SHOWERS OR TSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. THE TROUGH SHOULD FINALLY BEGIN SHIFTING INLAND OVER THE WEEKEND...BUT I THINK THE AVN SOLUTION IS PROBABLY STILL TOO PROGRESSIVE. AT ANY RATE THE PASSAGE OF THE UPPER TROUGH LOOKS PRETTY UNEVENTFUL FOR WRN WA...WITH THE UPSTREAM RIDGE FOLLOWING IT. I WILL STAY WITH A DRY FORECAST FOR SUN. IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD (MON-THU)...A LIKELY GENERAL SCENARIO IS THAT THE TROUGH WILL BE E OF THE CASCADES BY MON. THE REMAINS OF THE UPSTREAM RIDGE WILL GIVE US A BRIEF SPELL OF PROTECTION BEFORE THE MORE ACTIVE AND PROGRESSIVE ZONAL FLOW IN THE NRN BRANCH BUSTS THROUGH TO THE PACNW. DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN LONGER RANGE MODELS AND THE SPREAD OF THE ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS SHOW THAT THERE IS GREAT UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE TIMING AND DETAILS OF THIS. I WILL HANG ON TO THE DRY FORECAST FOR MON. MCDONNAL UIL 2232 SEA 1232 OLM 1232 .SEW...NONE. .KATX...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
WAC035-WAC067-060248-
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
448 PM PDT THU SEP 05 2002
TIME(PDT) CITY LOCATION STATE EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
COUNTY LOCATION
442 PM BREMERTON WA FREQUENT LIGHTNING
09/05/02 KITSAP KITSAP 44
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
REPORTED WITH MODERATE
RAIN AT 332 PM.
447 PM NEAR LITTLEROCK WA FREQUENT LIGHTNING
09/05/02 THURSTON THURSTON 33
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
REPORTED TO THE SOUTH
AROUND 4 PM.WAZ008-011-060200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 535 PM PDT THU SEP 5 2002 AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND LIGHTNING WAS LOCATED IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THURSTON COUNTY AT 530 PM...AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF LITTLEROCK...MAYTOWN AND TUMWATER. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTH AT AROUND 10 MPH AND WILL AFFECT OLYMPIA AND LACEY BETWEEN 530 PM AND 600 PM. IF CAUGHT UNDER ONE OF THESE STORMS EXPECT A BRIEF PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE STRONG GUSTY WINDS. CERNIGLIA
WAZ011-060130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 600 PM PDT THU SEP 5 2002 A THUNDERSTORM IN THE VICINITY OF OLYMPIA AND LACEY AT 600 PM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 8 TO 10 MPH. THIS PATH WILL KEEP THE STORM MOVING ALONG IN THE VICINITY OF INTERSTATE 5 TOWARD NISQUALLY AND DU PONT THROUGH 630 PM. EXPECT A SHORT PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN WHICH MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A ONE MILE AND CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON THE ROADWAYS. ESTIMATED RAINFALL TOTALS UNDER THE CORE OF THIS STORM HAVE EXCEEDED AN INCH IN LESS THAN AN HOUR NEAR TUMWATER. CERNIGLIA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a garage, a DOT building and a tree in the Olympia area. The garage, filled with antiques, was destroyed. The DOT building lost power and the tree was split.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 5316472.