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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 1:05 PM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 205 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2001 CURRENTLY...CONVECTION JUST BEGINNING ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE. VISIBLE LOOP INDICATES LOW LEVEL RIDGE AXIS OVER THE CENT FA. CONVECTION ALSO FIRING ALONG SEA BREEZE OVER SE FL...AND IS MOVING WNW TOWARD THE SW FA. HEAT INDICES ALREADY NEAR 103...WITH INTERIOR LIKELY TO REACH 105. SLOW STORM MOTIONS AND HIGH PWS SHOULD LEAD TO THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. EXPECT CONVECTION TO PUSH INLAND FROM TPA NORTH BY LATE AFTN/EARLY EVENING. --FCST DISC-- LITTLE CHANGE IN OVER ALL PATTERN THROUGH MON. UPPER TROF DIGS OVER THE EASTERN U.S. THROUGH THE PERIOD...WHICH HELPS TO LOWER MID/UPPER HTS OVER THE FA. ASSOCIATED SFC FRONT/TROF REMAINS WELL NORTH OF THE FA OVER SCENT GA. DESPITE UPPER HTS FALLS...THE SFC RIDGE AXIS SEEMS TO SIT GENERALLY OVER THE CENT FA/PENIN...KEEPING RELATIVELY LIGHT FLOW. AS PREVIOUS FCSTRS HAVE MENTIONED...LOWERING OF MID/UPPER HTS SHOULD LESSEN LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE...AND HELP INCREASE CONVECTIVE COVERAGE SUN AND MON. WILL CONTINUE TO TREND POPS SLOWLY UPWARD SUN AND MON...WITH 40-50% SUN...AND 50-60% MON. THIS FITS THE AVN TREND IN POPS...AND IS ALSO CLOSE TO CLIMO. FWC POPS SEEM TOO LOW GIVEN DEEP MOISTURE AND LOWERING UPPER HTS. HUMIDITY LEVELS EXPECTED TO REMAIN HIGH GIVEN LITTLE/NO CHANGE IN AIRMASS. --EXTENDED-- MUCH OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD DEPENDS ON THE FATE OF CHANTAL. USING NHCS LATEST FCST TRACK...PLACES THE SYSTEM SOMEWHERE OVER THE NORTHERN YUCATAN PENINSULA BY LATE MON AND TUES. WILL KEEP FCST VERY CONSERVATIVE FOR NOW...AND HOLD POPS GENERALLY NEAR CLIMO THROUGH SAT. MAIN EFFECTS FOR NOW WILL LIKELY BE IN THE MARINE. --MARINE-- NO PROBLEMS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. GIVEN POTENTIAL UNCERTAINTIES WITH THE TRACK OF CHANTAL...WILL BEGIN TRENDING WINDS AND SEAS UPWARD OVER THE S WATERS MON AND TUE...AND LIKELY ALL AREAS BY LATER TUE AND WED. TOO EARLY TO TELL WHETHER ANY HIGHLIGHTS WILL BE NEEDED. PRELIM S: TPA 078/092 078/090 2435 FMY 077/093 077/091 3546= .TBW...NONE. MORALES
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the roof of a moving 1999 Lincoln Town car, which damaged and disabled the electrical and computer systems of the vehicle along Interstate 75 between exits 38 and 39.
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: 5266425.