1 rip current, 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 20, 12:40 PM EST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 140 PM EDT MON AUG 20 2001 CURRENTLY..CU SEEMS TO BE VERY SLOW TO DEVELOP OVER THE CENT FA. ONLY CONVECTION SO FAR HAS BEEN OVER LEVY...BUT HAS ALREADY MOVED WELL INLAND. UPPER LEVEL JET...REVEALED BY CIRRUS STREAK ACROSS THE E CENT GULF...SEEMS TO BE ENHANCED BY SOUTHWARD SAGGING UPPER TROF OVER THE N GULF AND OUTFLOW FROM CHANTAL OVER THE NE CARRIB. S 1/2 OF THE FA IS LOCATED ON ANTI-CYCLONIC SHEAR SIDE OF THIS JET... WHICH COULD BE ONE REASON FOR SUPPRESSED CU AND CONVECTION. TODAYS POPS MAY BE TOO HIGH...BUT NOT WORTH CHANGING AT THIS POINT. --FCST DISC-- LOOKS LIKE ONE MORE DAY SIMILAR TO TODAY WITH THE UPPER TROF NORTH OF THE AREA...AND THE SFC RIDGE AXIS OVER THE CENT FA. LIGHT LOW LEVEL STEERING TUE...MAINLY OVER THE S 1/2 OF THE FA...WILL AGAIN GIVE THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. WILL LET MID SHIFT HIGHLIGHT IN HWO TUE MORNING IF NEEDED. WITH SIMILAR MOISTURE IN PLACE TUES AS TODAY...WILL KEEP 30-40% POPS ACROSS THE FA. BY WED... ALL MODELS SHOW SIGNIFICANT DRYING TREND FROM N-S. EVEN THE AVN... WHICH ON THE PREV 06Z RUN WAS NOT AS DRY...HAS NOW COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE ETA. THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL DRYING BEGINS MOVING SOUTHWARD BY TUES NIGHT AND WED AS THE PERSISTENT EAST COAST UPPER TROF MOVES EAST...AND AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE SE US. MODEL MRH FIELDS SUGGEST NO PRECIP FROM TPA NORTH ON WED. WILL NOT BE THAT BOLD...AND KEEP ISOLD POPS FROM ABT TPA NORTH...AND 20-30% S FA. THE SFC RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS INTO N FL BY WED...TURNING LOW LEVEL FLOW TO ESE...BUT VERY LIGHT. WILL SEE A SLIGHT REDUCTION IN SFC TDS AND HUMIDITY BY WED WITH DRIER AIR ALOFT...BUT MAXES HIGH WITH MORE SUN. --EXTENDED-- WELL BELOW CLIMO POPS TO LIKELY PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST FRI. WILL BRING THEM BACK TOWARD CLIMO SAT THRU MON AS MRF SHOWS HIGHER MOISTURE ENTERING FROM THE NW WITH NEXT UPPER TROF. --MARINE-- WINDS REMAINING BELOW 15 KTS THROUGH THE PEROID WITH SEAS GENERALLY 3 FT OR LESS. NO SIGNIF CHANGES EXPECTED WITH AFTN FCST. CURRENT NHC FCST FOR CHANTAL KEEPS STORM WELL SW OF THE AREA...WITH LITTLE/NO IMPACT ON MARINE AREA. PRELIM S: TPA 076/092 075/092 2322 FMY 076/093 075/093 2433= .TBW...NONE. MORALES
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 22 year old male drowned in a rip current 100 feet offshore of Sand Key in Clearwater.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Pinellas | 2001-08-20 | 22 | Male | In Water | Direct |
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: 5266424.