Florida, 2001

Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 2001

July 4, 2001 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, 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
8
Property damage
$1,000
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 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 Jul 4, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
300 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY FAIRLY WELL ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE CWA ALREADY
THIS AFTERNOON ALONG SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO
CONTINUE INTO EVENING HOURS AND WILL MAINTAIN GOOD POPS.

ON THURSDAY...SURFACE RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS A LITTLE MORE SOUTH IN
RESPONSE TO DIGGING TROUGH AND COLD FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHEAST US.
THIS WILL PUT THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF THE CWA IN A SOUTHWEST
FLOW WITH LIGHT/VARIABLE ACROSS THE SOUTH. STILL PLENTY OF MOISTURE
AVAILABLE BUT WILL FAVOR MORE INLAND LOCATIONS ACROSS THE NORTH.

SIMILAR CONDITIONS ON FRIDAY...ALTHOUGH MODELS DO HINT AT SOME
DRYING. HOWEVER...VERY LIGHT WIND FIELD WILL ALLOW GOOD SEA BREEZE
COLLISIONS OVER THE INTERIOR.

EXTENDED...HIGH BRIEFLY SHIFTS NORTHWARD ON SATURDAY BEFORE A
STRONGER COLD FRONT IN THE EASTERN US TURNS WINDS BACK TO THE WEST
THROUGH TUESDAY.

MARINE...NO HIGHLIGHTS NEEDED WITH WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT...
ALTHOUGH WIND DIRECTIONS WILL BE SHIFTING THROUGH THE FORECAST
PERIOD.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS:
TPA BB 075/091 078/091 4424
FMY TB 075/092 076/092 4534

.TBW...NONE.

SG/67

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Hillsborough

When
July 4, 7:30 PM EST
Where
Hillsborough County, 1 mi NW of Apollo Beach
Injuries
8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
27.906, -82.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Eight people were injured, while taking cover in a tent, when lightning struck a nearby tree and the tents central metal support rod, on Beer Can Island in Hillsborough Bay. An adult, holding the center metal support rod of the tent, was seriously injured from the lightning strike.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 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: 5261243.