Flash Flood in Florida, August 2, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Florida, August 2, 2001
Start: 2001-08-02T08:00
End: 2001-08-02T13:00
Location: Florida

August 2, 2001 · NWS MLB · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.5 million
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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 2, 2:05 AM EST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 2:05 AM EST, 5 hours 55 minutes before

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
305 AM EDT THU AUG 2 2001

...THREAT OF FLOODING RAINS CONTINUES OVER OUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES
TODAY...

SATELLITE IMAGERY AND SFC OBS APPEAR TO SHOW THE TROPICAL WAVE OVER
THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF GETTING BETTER ORGANIZED. BUOYS IN THE REGION
INDICATE A BETTER DEFINED LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION DEVELOPING AND WIND
SPEEDS HAVE BEEN SLOWLY INCREASING. REFER TO STATEMENTS FROM THE
TROPICAL PREDICTION CENTER FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS.

THE 00Z AVN INITIALIZATION OF THE MOISTURE PROFILE IS SUPERIOR TO
THE ETA/NGM AS IT ALONE DEPICTS THE BAND OF LOW LEVEL DRY AIR ACROSS
THE CENTRAL PENINSULA (DEPICTED BY 22Z SOUNDING). THIS SOMEWHAT
EXPLAINS THE LACK OF RAIN CURRENTLY OVER CENTRAL/NORTH SECTIONS. BUT
THIS DRY AIR IS LIKELY ERODING WITH 20-30 KNOTS SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST
FLOW CONTINUING TO PULL IN DEEP MOISTURE AND REGION INCREASINGLY
UNDER THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF H25 JET MAX. SO WILL CONTINUE THE
FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FA TODAY. THE SHOWERS AND
EMBEDDED STORMS WILL TRANSPORT STRONGER WINDS TO THE SFC...SO WILL
INDICATE HIGHER GUSTS IN SQUALLS.

AVN CONTINUES TO DEVELOP A WEAK LOW OVER SW FL FRI AND MOVES IT ENE
ACROSS THE PENINSULA AND INTO THE ATLC BY SAT MORNING. NW BEHIND
THIS FEATURE WOULD ADVECT DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION...BUT CONTINUE
TO BE SKEPTICAL OF THIS SOLUTION ESP IF TROPICAL WAVE DEVELOPS
FURTHER. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE WETTER ETA/NGM AND GO LIKELY POPS
FRIDAY WITH DEEP MOISTURE PROGGED TO REMAIN OVER THE AREA.

EXTENDED...AS TROPICAL WAVE PUSHES WEST AND ITS INFLUENCE DECREASES
OVER OUR AREA...RAIN CHANCES WILL SETTLE BACK TO CLIMO POPS. ETA AND
AVN INDICATE RIDGE AXIS TRYING TO REESTABLISH ITSELF OVER THE FL
STRAITS THIS WEEKEND...LEADING TO A PERIOD OF OFFSHORE FLOW WHICH
WOULD FAVOR CONVECTION ALONG THE FL EAST COAST. THEN RIDGE AXIS
RIDES NORTH AND PLACES US BACK UNDER LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW NEXT
WEEK.

MARINE...WILL CONTINUE EXERCISE CAUTION OVER THE SOUTH LEG WITH
HIGHER GUSTS EXPECTED IN SQUALLS. WINDS SHOULD GRADUALLY DECREASE
AND VEER TO THE SOUTH/SOUTHEAST BY LATE FRI AS RIDGE AXIS TRIES TO
REESTABLISH ITSELF OVER S FL.

THANKS FOR COORD MIA.

PRELIM NO'S...
DAB RT 084/073 085/072 088 7563
MCO RT 085/072 088/073 090 8663
MLB RT 083/075 087/074 089 9774

.MLB...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES TODAY FOR MARTIN...ST LUCIE...
       OKEECHOBEE...OSCEOLA...INDIAN RIVER AND BREVARD COUNTIES.

PUBLIC/MARINE...KELLY
AVIATION/FIRE WX...SHARP

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 2, 5:34 AM EST, 2 hours 26 minutes before

AMZ550-555-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147-022000-

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
634 AM EDT THU AUG 2 2001

...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR BREVARD...INDIAN RIVER...OKEECHOBEE...
OSCEOLA...MARTIN...AND ST LUCIE COUNTIES TODAY...

A TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE SOUTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO
PULL DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
FLORIDA. PERIODS OF RAIN WILL OCCUR TODAY ACROSS ALL OF EAST CENTRAL
FLORIDA. RAIN WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY FROM
OSCEOLA AND BREVARD COUNTIES SOUTHWARD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL VARY
WIDELY FROM LOCATION TO LOCATION...BUT UPWARDS OF 4 INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE IN AREAS THAT RECEIVE PROLONGED HEAVY RAINS. ROADS MAY
BECOME FLOODED AND WATER COULD ENTER SOME HOMES OR BUSINESSES. BE
PREPARED TO PROTECT LIFE...PROPERTY AND LIVESTOCK...ESPECIALLY IF YOU
LIVE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA. RAINFALL SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO CONTACT
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE IF RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS
EXCEED 2 INCHES.

IN ADDITION...GUSTY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY MANY OF THE SHOWERS...WITH
WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE IN THE HEAVIER SQUALLS.

FOR MARINE INTERESTS...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION AS 15 TO
20 KNOT WINDS WILL PRODUCE 4 TO 6 FOOT SEAS...AND GUSTS TO GALE FORCE
WILL OCCUR IN PASSING SQUALLS.

WIND AND OCEAN CONDITIONS ARE PRODUCING A GREATER THAN NORMAL THREAT
OF RIP CURRENTS. CHECK WITH BEACH PATROL OR LIFEGUARD STATIONS FOR
CURRENT OCEAN CONDITIONS. ALWAYS SWIM WITHIN SIGHT OF A LIFEGUARD.

THE GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS AVAILABLE
AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MLB/+HWOFILES/HWOMAIN.HTML

KELLY

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Martin

When: August 2, 8:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Martin County, Stuart
Property damage: $1.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 27.082, -80.398 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rains associated with distant Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico produced flooding across much of Martin County. About 13 inches of rain fell in the area between midnight and late morning on August 2nd. The most serious flooding occurred in Stuart, Port Salerno and Palm City. Over 300 homes received some water damage. Major damage was reported in 63 homes and 6 mobile homes.

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 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: 5266494.