1 waterspout, 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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 3, 1:50 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 250 PM EDT THU MAY 3 2001 MAIN WX FEATURE IS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF. ALL MODELS INITIALIZED VERY WELL ON ITS POSITION AND ALL AGREE THAT IT WILL TRACK SOUTHEASTERLY ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY. CURRENTLY HAVE A GOOD SWATH OF MOISTURE ROTATING AROUND THE BASE AND ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE LOW WITH QUITE A BIT OF CONVECTION NORTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE. AS THIS LOW TRACKS ACROSS OUR REGION TONIGHT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED AT ALL TO GET SOME TSRA WELL INTO THE NIGHT SO WILL GO WITH THAT SCENARIO. SO I WILL GO GOOD CHANCE TO LIKELY ACROSS ALL OF THE AREA. IN FACT...WE HAVE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ABOVE ABOUT 10-12K FEET AND THIS SOMETIMES GIVES US OUR SEVERE STORMS. IF THIS FEATURE WAS COMING ACROSS DURING THE DAY WOULD CONSIDER MENTIONING BUT WITH LACK OF HEATING MAY NOT BE AS MUCH OF A FACTOR. ALSO AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR IS WHEN WE GET OUR HAIL. BEING A NIGHTTIME SITUATION WILL HOLD OFF MENTIONING STRONG BUT COULD SEE SOME SMALL HAIL IF ANYTHING REALLY GETS GOING. OTHER NEGATIVE FACTOR MIGHT BE THE EASTERLY FLOW REMAINS RATHER DEEP SO WILL NOT GET REAL STRONG SURFACE CONVERGENCE. THEN AS UPPER LOW CONTINUES SOUTHEAST THE MODELS BRING QUITE A BIT OF DRYING OVER US DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY AND VERY DRY ABOVE THE SURFACE OVER THE WEEKEND. THUS THE NORTHERN ZONES WILL HAVE CONVECTION MAINLY DURING THE MORNING ON FRIDAY AND ENDING LATE IN THE DAY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES. THEN DRY AND BREEZY ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WITH LITTLE CHANGE INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. MARINE...THE WINDS GET STRONGER THE FARTHER NORTH YOU GO WITH SETTLEMENT POINT AND LAKE WORTH BEING NEARER TO 20KT AND FOWEY ROCKS NEARER TO 15 WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 20KT. THIS HAS BEEN PERSISTENT THROUGH THE DAY SO WILL KEEP WIND SPEEDS THE SAME AT EXERCISE CAUTION CRITERIA ALONG THE EAST COAST THROUGH MONDAY BUT THE DIRECTION REMAINS FAVORABLE FOR INCREASE SEAS FOR THE GULF STREAM SO WILL KEEP SCA GOING THERE. THE WINDS FINALLY BEGIN DECREASING ON TUESDAY. THE WEST COAST WINDS WILL BEGIN DECREASING BY SATURDAY. MIA BB 071/081 070/083 069 3064-0 PBI BB 070/080 069/082 068 3064-0= .MIA...SCA FOR THE GULF STREAM.
The Miami radar (KAMX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:17 UTC.
1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.
A SKYWARN spotter sighted a waterspout in the Atlantic near Lake Worth pier.
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, May 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: 5237156.