Heat, Hardy
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Hardy forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.008, -78.858 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in West Virginia, July 28 to 29, 2002
A large area of high pressure sat off the Mid-Atlantic coast during the last week of July. This caused a warm and moist south wind to blow into the region for several days, resulting in another heat wave.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
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 LWX wrote it up.
A large area of high pressure sat off the Mid-Atlantic coast during the last week of July. This caused a warm and moist south wind to blow into the region for several days, resulting in another heat wave. The hottest days were the 28th and 29th of July when temperatures rose into the 90s and heat index values reached 98 to 110 degrees.
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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 28, 9:40 AM EST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 9:40 AM EST, 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 1040 AM EDT SUN JUL 28 2002 HEAT ADVIS/EXCESSIVE HEAT WRNG ON TRACK LATE THIS AM. TEMPS AT 14Z WERE IN THE 80S W/DWPTS IN 70S. H85 TEMP AT IAD THIS AM WAS +19 DEG C. MDLS PREDICT THIS TEMP TO REACH +21 DEG C BY DAY/S END. MIXG THIS DOWN DRY ADIABATICALLY YIELDS MAX TEMP OF 96 DEG F. CURRENT FCST IN M90S LUKS GUD. MDL SDNGS SUGGEST A LAYER OF CU WL DVLP THIS AFTERNOON OVR RGN. CU WAS ALREADY PRESENT THIS AM OVR POTOMAC HIGHLANDS. EARLIER THIS AM...MID LVL S/W BROUGHT SRN END OF LN SHRAS/TSRAS THRU FAR NE FA. A FEW LOW CLDS LINGERED OVR THIS AREA LATE THIS AM. P/S STILL LUKS GUD FOR AFTN. DOWNSLOPE FLOW WL CONTRIBUTE TO WARMG OF LOW LVLS THIS AFTN BUT THIS WARMG WL BE OFFSET SOMEWHAT BY CLD CVR. MODIFIED SDNG SHOWED B+ CLIMBING TO OVR 4000 J/KG THIS AFTN AND LI/S ARND -7 DEG C. BEST CHC/S FOR ANY CONVECTION WUD BE OVR RIDGES AND NEAR BAY ALG BAY BREEZE BDRY. WL CONFINE MENTION OF TSRAS TO THESE RGNS. .LWX... DC...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THRU TUE FOR ZONE DCZ001. MD...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THRU TUE FOR ZONE MDZ011. HEAT ADVISORY THRU TUE FOR ZONES MDZ002>007...MDZ009>010... MDZ013>014...MDZ016>018. VA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THRU TUE FOR ZONE VAZ054. HEAT ADVISORY THRU TUE FOR ZONES VAZ025>031...VAZ036>042... VAZ050>053...VAZ055>057. WV...HEAT ADVISORY THRU TUE FOR ZONES WVZ048>053...WVZ055. ARTHUR
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
7 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Grant
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Grant forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Heat, Mineral
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Mineral forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Heat, Hampshire
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Hampshire forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.317, -78.614 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Morgan
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Morgan forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.560, -78.258 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Berkeley
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Berkeley forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.464, -78.027 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Jefferson
- When
- July 28, 10:00 AM EST to July 29, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.308, -77.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 29, 2002
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Tornado in New York, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 28, 2002
- Hail in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in New York, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 28, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 28, 2002
More
Every storm in West Virginia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5308588, 5308589, 5308590, 5308591, 5308592, 5308593, 5308594.