Lightning Strike in Florida, August 10, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Florida, August 10, 2001
Start: 2001-08-10T15:30
End: 2001-08-10T15:30
Location: Florida

August 10, 2001 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 10, 1:14 PM EST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 10, 1:14 PM EST, 2 hours 16 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
214 PM EDT FRI AUG 10 2001

CURRENTLY...WEST COAST SEA BREEZE ALREADY UNDERWAY AND MAKING
INROADS TOWARD INTERIOR LOCATIONS VIA VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON...WITH 88D RETURNS DEPICTING A FEW SHOWERS ALONG IT.
IN ADDITION THE EAST COAST BOUNDARY IS EVIDENT FROM THE LAKE SOUTH...
BUT FURTHER NORTH SLIGHTLY STRONGER SW-WLY FLOW IS INHIBITING IT AND
WILL LIKELY KEEP IT PINNED CLOSE TO THE COAST IN THESE LOCATIONS.
THIS BEING THE CASE WILL LIKELY SEE BEST AREAL COVERAGE OF STORMS
OVER MY INTERIOR AND SOUTHWESTERN MOST ZONES WHERE THE BEST BOUNDARY
COLLISIONS TAKE PLACE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...WITH SLIGHTLY LESS
COVERAGE FAR NORTH AND IMMEDIATE WEST COASTAL LOCATIONS. WITH THIS IN
MIND WILL WORD FOR 20% NORTH AND CENTRAL COASTAL ZONES AND 40%
INTERIOR/SOUTHWEST FOR THE EVENING HOURS.

SHORT TERM...MODELS CONTINUE TO BE VERY SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS RUNS.
REMNANTS OF BARRY (VORT CENTER) NOW OVER THE LOWER TN/MS VALLEYS IS
PRODG TO DROP SEWD TO CENTRAL GA DURING THE NEXT 24-48 HOURS WHERE
IT WILL MEANDER AROUND INTO THE EXTENDED RANGE AS WEAK UPPER
TROUGHINESS DEVELOPS OVER THE EASTERN SEA BOARD. THE AVN/ETA ARE
SIMILAR WITH THIS SCENARIO...BUT THE NGM WANTS TO LIFT THIS FEATURE
OUT TO THE NORTHEAST FAIRLY FAST. SEEING THAT THIS FEATURE IS
EMBEDDED IN A WEAK FLOW...AM INCLINED TO LEAN TOWARD A BLEND OF THE
AVN/ETA FOR THIS CYCLE WHICH KEEPS A SHEAR AXIS TO THE NORTH OF THE
STATE. IN ANY EVENT WITH LITTLE OVERALL MOISTURE CHANGE EXPECTED AND
THE SURFACE RIDGE AXIS REMAINING AROUND OF JUST NORTH OF THE LAKE A
CONTINUATION OF DAILY SEA BREEZE DRIVEN CONVECTION OVER THE UPCOMING
WEEKEND LOOKS TO BE A GOOD BET. THE ONLY FLY IN THE OINTMENT WILL BE
THE DRIER AIR IN THE MID/UPPER LEVELS DEPICTED BY MODEL TIME X-
SECTIONS. THIS DRIER AIR MAY KEEP THE OVERALL AREAL COVERAGE OF
STORMS A BIT LOWER...BUT FEEL MAV POPS ARE TO LOW AND WILL USE A
BLEND OF THE FAN/FWC THIS PACKAGE KEEPING 30-40% COASTAL TO INTERIOR.
GUIDANCE TEMPS AGAIN VERY CLOSE...SO A BLEND WILL BE USED.

EXTENDED...LATEST AVN KEEPS UPPER TROUGHINESS OVER THE EASTERN SEA
BOARD WITH SHEAR AXIS ACROSS THE SERN GULF STATE AND NORTHERN
PENINSULA THROUGH THE PERIOD. AT THE SURFACE MODELS HAVE BEEN
INCONSISTENT WITH PLACEMENT OF SURFACE RIDGE AXIS DURING THE LAST
FEW DAYS WITH SOME MOVING IT NORTH TO NEAR THE CAROLINAS WITH A
EAST TO SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW REGIME DEVELOPING WHILE OTHERS KEEP IT
MEANDERING AROUND THE N-CENTRAL PENINSULA RESULTING IN LIGHT SW-WLY
FLOW. SEEING THAT A POSITIVE TILTED UPPER TROUGH IS ADVERTISED BY
MODELS TO BE RESIDING OVER THE ERN SEA BOARD AND NORTHERN GULF AM
INCLINED TO FAVOR MORE OF A SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW REGIME
THROUGH A DEEP LAYER IN THE EXTENDED RANGE...WHICH WOULD FAVOR THE
BEST AREAL COVERAGE OF STORMS FROM BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS OVER MY
INTERIOR AND EASTERN MOST ZONES. WITH PWS REMAINING IN THE 1.5 TO
1.7 RANGE PLAN TO KEEP POPS AT CLIMO-LEVEL...BUT WILL WORD FOR EARLY
AFTERNOON COASTAL...AND AFTERNOON AND EVENING INTERIOR.

MARINE...LIGHT SOUTHWEST TO WESTERLY FLOW EXPECTED NORTHERN LEGS AND
LIGHT AND VARIABLE WITH ONSHORE COMPONENT CENTRAL AND SOUTH THROUGH
SUNDAY...THEN MORE OF A LIGHT SOUTHERLY FLOW MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
WITH PM SEA BREEZES EACH AFTERNOON. NO HIGHLIGHTS EXPECTED WITH
DELIGHTFUL CONDITIONS CONTINUING.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS
TPA BB 076/091 076/092 2323
FMY BB 075/093 075/093 3434

.TBW...NONE.

MCMICHAEL

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 10, 10:25 AM EST, 5 hours 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1125 AM EDT FRI AUG 10 2001

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

0345 PM    BOWLING GREEN             FL   WIND DAMAGE
08/09/01   HARDEE                         LARGE TRAVEL TRAILER
                                          BLOWN ON ITS SIDE AND
                                          NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS
                                          BLOWN DOWN AT A TRAILER
                                          PARK OFF US 17.
                                          REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT. EVENT
                                          DURATION 5 MINUTES.

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Hillsborough

When: August 10, 3:30 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough County, Temple Terrace
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 27.906, -82.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The broadcast media reported that a 44 year old male was struck on the top of the head and killed by lightning while walking under a group of large trees, near the intersection of Alumni and Laurel Drive, at the University of South Florida in Temple Terrace, during a rain storm.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Hillsborough	2001-08-10	44	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, August 2001

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: 5266152.