Flash Flood in Florida, March 19 to 20, 1998

Name: Flash Flood in Florida, March 19 to 20, 1998
Start: 1998-03-19T23:30
End: 1998-03-20T04:00
Location: Florida

March 19 to 20, 1998 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
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.

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Sarasota

When: March 19, 11:30 PM EST to March 20, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Sarasota County, 3 mi ESE of Sarasota
Property damage: $500,000
Coordinates: 27.183, -82.365 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three to six inches of rain with isolated amounts up to ten inches fell over a large part of Sarasota county which caused the waters of the Philipi Creek along Greer and Gehardt Streets near County Road 773 to overflow its banks. Up to 45 homes were damaged by floodwaters of the Philipi Creek with damage estimated at one half million dollars.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, March 1998

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: 5647821.