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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 2:00 AM CST, 12 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 300 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 2001 LARGE H5 TROF CONTINUES TO CHUG INTO THE EASTERN STATES THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT WHILE THE RIDGING WEAKENS OVER THE NORTHERN GULF. SERIES OF MID LEVEL SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED IN SOUTHERN EXTENT OF THE WESTERLIES LOOK TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH TIMING IS DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN. THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX THAT MOVED ACROSS THE AREA LAST EVENING LEFT AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY THAT APPEARS TO BE LOCATED FROM JUST SOUTH OF THE NORTHWEST FL PANHANDLE TO SOUTHERN BALDWIN COUNTY THEN BACK TO JUST SOUTH OF PIB PER KMOB RADAR LOOP AND AP PATTERN. AS A MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE APPROACHES TODAY AND SURFACE FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWESTERLY WITH THE AID OF SEA BREEZE CYCLE...EXPECT THE BEST COVERAGE OVER THE COASTAL COUNTIES AND SOUTHEAST MS...WITH LEAST COVERAGE OVER GZH AREA. GZH AREA MAY RECEIVE A BIT MORE COVERAGE TONIGHT AS THE WESTERLY STEERING FLOW MOVES THE AFTERNOONS CONVECTION THAT WAY DURING THE EVENING HOURS. AS THE H5 TROF ADVANCES FURTHER INTO THE SOUTHEAST STATES...MODELS DISAGREE ON STRENGTH AND TIMING OF EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES...SO WILL GO WITH CHANCE POPS ON SUNDAY ACROSS THE AREA FOR NOW. MARINE AND FIRE...NO HIGHLIGHTS. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS THROUGH SUNDAY. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. EXTENDED RANGE...MAY SEE SOME CHANGES TO THE LATTER PORTION OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD DEPENDING ON WEATHER FEATURES...BUT FOR NOW WILL JUST LEAVE THE CURRENT EXTENDED PACKAGE AS IS. PRELIM NUMBERS... MOB TE 091/074 091/073 092 295242 PNS TE 090/076 091/076 091 295242 DTS TE 089/079 089/079 089 295242 GZH EE 090/072 092/071 093 293332 2R0 TE 092/071 093/067 093 295232 61A TE 092/071 093/068 093 295232 .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning hit a tree near a house. The lightning ran through the branches of the tree and started a fire in the roof and attic of the house. The home suffered major damage before the fire could be put out.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2001
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: 5264843.