1 lightning, 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 1, 1:30 PM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 230 PM EDT THU AUG 1 2002 ...SHORT TERM... IMPRESSIVE BAND OF LIGHTNING STORMS EXTENDS FROM THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO EAST THROUGH MY NORTHERN COUNTIES AND AND UP THE SOUTHEAST COAST ALONG THE GULF STREAM. THIS LINES UP NICELY WITH THE RUC 500MB ANALYSIS WITH VORT CENTERS OFF BOTH COASTS SEPARATED BY A SHEAR AXIS OVER THE NORTHERN PENINSULA. STORMS HAVE BEEN PRETTY MUCH NON-STOP OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES AND BECOMING MORE NUMEROUS AT THIS HOUR. MODELS CONSISTENT IN DROPPING VORT LOBE SLOWLY SOUTHWARD OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS CLOSER TO THE CENTRAL PENINSULA. JUST AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE IS A FAIRLY LARGE AREA OF COLD TEMPS ALOFT...IN THE -10C RANGE...WHICH HAS ALREADY PRODUCED DIME SIZE HAIL IN CITRUS COUNTY. EXPECT MORE IN THE WAY OF THIS ACROSS THE CENTRAL INTERIOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS VORT LOBE...SHEAR AXIS...AND COLD POOL INTERACT WITH AREAS OF GREATER INSTABILITY. WILL CARRY POPS THROUGH OUT THE NIGHT WITH NO TIMING AS DEEP MOISTURE WITH WESTERLY FLOW SETS UP. ...FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT... SOGGY DAY SETTING UP ACROSS THE AREA WITH ALL MODELS SHOWING DEEP MOISTURE OVER THE AREA. AXIS OF 2+ INCH PRECIPITABLE WATER STRETCHES FROM CITRUS COUNTY SOUTHWARD TO SARASOTA COUNTY. ALTHOUGH WE WILL HAVE UPPER SUPPORT...SEVERE THREAT SEEMS LIMITED AT THIS TIME BECAUSE OF 3 FACTORS...1)LIMITED SUNSHINE WITH EXTENSIVE MID CLOUD DECK DROPPING DOWN...2)TEMPS ALOFT ACTUALLY WARM TO AROUND -6C... AND 3)FLOW IS PRETTY UNIDIRECTIONAL ALL THE WAY UP THE ATMOSPHERE FROM THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST. A COUPLE OF ROGUE PULSE STORMS COULD FORM TO THE SOUTH BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE AT THIS TIME SEEMS UNLIKELY. ...SATURDAY... DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW RETROGRADES WEST SLIGHTLY PULLING DEEPEST OF THE MOISTURE TO THE NORTH LATE ON SATURDAY. STILL EXPECT LIKELY POPS ROUGHLY FROM TAMPA NORTHWARD. WINDS FROM THE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST ALSO START PICKING UP AT THIS TIME AROUND THE CENTRAL FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL GRADUALLY WORK NORTHWARD SATURDAY NIGHT TO AFFECT THE SOUTH FACING BEACHES ALONG CITRUS AND LEVY. DONT EXPECT ANY MAJOR COASTAL PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW...BUT WORTH KEEPING AN EYE ON. ...SUNDAY... OTHER THAN THE BRISK SOUTHERLY WINDS JUST ALLUDED TO...THINGS SHOULD START CALMING DOWN ON SUNDAY WITH MORE IN THE WAY OF SCATTERED POPS EXPECTED AS ENTIRE FORECAST AREA DROPS UNDER THE 2 PRECIPITABLE WATER MARK. SHEAR AXIS STILL AROUND HOWEVER ON THE AVN WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS RUNS. THIS SHOULD KEEP POPS ON THE HIGH SIDE OF SCATTERED RATHER THAN THE LOW. ...EXTENDED... AVN SHOWS TREND OF PUTTING DEEP LAYER MOISTURE BACK OVER OUR AREA THROUGH THE EXTENDED WITH PERSISTENT SURFACE LOW KEEPING THE AREA UNDER WEST SOUTHWEST FLOW. WILL KEEP POPS IN SCATTERED CATEGORY THIS FAR OUT UNTIL MODELS COME INTO MORE AGREEMENT. TEMPS NEAR CLIMO DURING THE PERIOD AND WILL KEEP CLOSE TO GUIDANCE WHICH SHOWS LIKEWISE. ...MARINE... STRONGEST WINDS EXPECTED LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY FROM TAMPA BAY SOUTHWARD AS UPPER LOW REMAINS NORTH OF THE AREA. AS LOW RETROGRADES ON SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...WINDS WILL PICK UP FOR THE NORTHERN WATERS WITH FLAGS POSSIBLE BY THEN. ...FIRE WEATHER... NO CONCERNS. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS: BKV 071/088 073/088 4746 TPA 078/088 078/089 4746 GIF 075/091 075/091 3646 SRQ 076/087 075/088 4746 FMY 076/090 076/091 2534 .TBW...NONE. JTD
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started brush fires in Sun 'N Lakes subdivision. Several power transformers and traffic lights were knocked out of service in Sebring. Caused a house fire in Sebring. The house fire started in a line from a propane tank which ignited and melted the aluminum siding of the house.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2002
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: 5310432.