Wildfire, Sarasota
- When
- February 19, 3:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Sarasota County, North Port
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 27.183, -82.365 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Florida, February 19, 2001
An arson suspected 75 acre wildfire damaged two homes, destroyed a tractor and injured a man near the intersection of Toledo Blade and Chamberlain Boulevards in North Port near the Sarasota-Charlotte county line. The injured man was struck in the head by a falling branch and may have been paralyzed from the neck down.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $100,000
- 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 happened
The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
An arson suspected 75 acre wildfire damaged two homes, destroyed a tractor and injured a man near the intersection of Toledo Blade and Chamberlain Boulevards in North Port near the Sarasota-Charlotte county line. The injured man was struck in the head by a falling branch and may have been paralyzed from the neck down.
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 Feb 19, 1:27 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 1:27 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 127 PM EST MON FEB 19 2001 ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS REMAINS THE PRIMARY WX STORY THIS WEEK. HOWEVER...A FEW CHAPTERS INCLUDE THE EVOLUTION AND RELOCATION OF SMOKE PLUME FROM POLK CITY WILDFIRE EARLY ON...AND MAYBE (CROSS YOUR FINGERS) A LEGITIMATE THREAT FOR RAIN ON THURSDAY. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 36H. THEREAFTER...THE AVN BECOMES A BIT TOO GIDDY IN SLIDING AN AREA OF HIGH MEAN RH AND PSBL PCPN INTO THE CENTRAL PENINSULA...BEGINNING LATE TUE AND ESP WED. WITH VIRTUALLY NO UPPER SUPPORT AT THAT TIME I CANT BUY IT. WILL LEAN TOWARD MORE REALISTIC ETA/NGM SOLN. SHORT TERM: TONIGHT...MODELS NOW SUPPORT RELATIVELY DRY AIR NEAR SFC...AND LACK OF AFTN SEA BREEZE WILL KEEP DWPTS IN CHECK. WILL PULL LOW CLDS/FOG. HOWEVER...SOME OF THE ABUNDANT CU/SC NOW PRESENT MAY BECOME TRAPPED AROUND THE INVERSION AT H80 OVERNIGHT. WILL CALL IT PCLDY AND SHIFT AREAS OF SMOKE INTO PAS/HERN/SUM COUNTIES. TUE...NO REACH CHANGE TO CURR FCST...P/SUNNY AND WARM. SMOKE PLUME WILL EVENTUALLY SHRINK AS MIXING WINDS LIGHTEN. IN ADDITION...A TURN TO THE S WILL EVENTUALLY SHIFT PLUME INTO SUMTER CO ALONE. TEMPS WILL BE A TAD COOLER ON THE COAST WITH AFTN SEA BREEZE. TUE NIGHT...SFC RIDGE AXIS SETTLES OVER CWFA...AND WITH LIGHT S/SW FLOW JUST OFF THE DECK EXPECT SOME FOG. WILL CALL IT PATCHY FOR NOW...AND HAVE LATER SHIFTS REEVALUATE. SKIES SHOULD BECOME MCLR AFTER SUNSET S OF TAMPA BAY...BUT VARYING CLDS N AS BATCH OF HIGHER RH APPROACHES. WED...WILL INTRODUCE SLGT CHC POPS FOR LEV/CIT ALONG WITH VRBL CLDS...OTHERWISE ANOTHER P/SUNNY DAY WITH SIMILAR TEMPS...BUT HIGHER DWPTS...TO TUES. EXTENDED: A MORE PRONOUNCED H50 SHORT WAVE EASES TWD THE AREA WED NIGHT THROUGH THU EVE. COMBINE THIS WITH SOME H25 JET DVRG...INCREASING PCP WATERS...AND SLOW MOVG SFC FRONT...AND SOME LOCATIONS IN THE CWFA (MAINLY N) MAY RECEIVE BENEFICIAL RAINFALL. DUE TO UNCERTAINTY...WILL CALL IT CHC POP WED NIGHT AND SCT SHWRS THU. A BIT COOLER N WHERE CLOUDS SHOULD BE THICKEST. FOR NEXT WKND...PERHAPS ANOTHER BRIEF SHOT AT PCPN ON SUN AS WEAK BDRY MOVES THROUGH...OTHERWISE A BIT DRIER BUT STILL WITH TEMPS ABOVE NORMAL. MARINE: CONDS HAVE BEEN FLIRTING WITH SCEC...ESP S OF TAMPA BAY. HOWEVER...EXPECTED WKNG OF GRADIENT OVERNIGHT SHOULD DROP AVG WINDS BELOW ANY HIGHLIGHT CRITERIA. OTHERWISE...A QUIET PERIOD WIND-WISE UNTIL SAT...WHEN DVLPG ANTICYCLONE NE OF US TIGHTENS THE GRADIENT A BIT. FIRE WX: NO HIGHLIGHTS GIVEN INCRSG RH AND DCRSG WINDS. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR POLK CO WILDFIRE HOWEVER. PRELIM NUMBERS: TPA BB 058/079/059/078 00-1 FMY BB 058/083/059/082 000- 88 .TBW...NONE. GOLDSMITH
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Extreme Cold in Michigan, February 19 to 20, 2001
- High Wind in Arizona, February 19, 2001
- Avalanche in Montana, February 19, 2001
- High Surf in California, February 19 to 21, 2001
- Flooding in Illinois, February 19 to 28, 2001
- Volcanic Ash in Alaska, February 19, 2001
- Winter Storm in California, February 19 to 20, 2001
- Funnel Cloud in California, February 19, 2001
More
Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 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: 5235351.