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 14, 12:40 PM EST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 140 PM EDT WED AUG 14 2002 CURRENTLY...SCT SHOWRS AND ISOLD TSTMS DEVELOPING OVER THE ECENT AND SE FL MOVING NW TOWARD THE INTERIOR FA. WEST COAST SEA BREEZE CAN BE SEE OVER LEVY AND CITRUS...BUT GENERALLY NOT EVIDENT IN OBS OR SATELLTE YET REST OF THE AREA. BEST COVERGENCE MAY BE CONFINED TO IMMEDIATE COAST AND JUST OFFSHORE LATER THIS AFTN AND EVENING...ESPEC S OF TPA. N OF TPA...FLOW MORE SOUTHERLY...WHICH WILL ALLOW WEST COAST SEA BREEZE TO MOVE FARTHER INLAND. EASTERLY TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE CENT BAHAMAS MOVING WNW TOWARD SE FL. --FCST DISCUSSION-- BIG QUESTION IS HOW DRY WILL IT GET BEHIND WEAK TROPICAL WAVE CURRENTLY OVER BAHAMAS? ALL MODELS SHOW THE AXIS OF THE WAVE INTO S FL TONIGHT...CENT FL THURS MORNING AND INTO THE N FA THURS AFTN. ETA THE MOST AGRESSIVE WITH THE DRYING BEHIND THE WAVE LATER THURS THROUGH EARLY FRI. ETA STARTS VERY DRY ON FRI WITH MRHS BELOW 50%... BUT INCREASES MOISTURE DURING THE DAY FROM THE SE. A RETURN BACK TO MORE UNIFORM/NORMAL DEEP LAYER MOISTURE SAT. LOW LEVEL WINDS SE THRU AT LEAST FRI WITH A DEEP LAYER RIDGE AXIS OVER N FL/S GA. BY SAT... AVN TRIES TO BACK WINDS TO MORE EASTERLY. GUIDANCE GENERALLY NOT INDICATING ANY SIGNIFICANT INLAND PENETRATION OF THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE EACH AFTN...BUT STILL THINK IMMEDIATE COAST/BEACHES WILL GET A LATE DAY ONE. THIS WILL HELP ENHANCE LATE AFTN/EVENING SHOWERS RIGHT AT THE COAST. WILL STICK CLOSE TO TIMING OF THE EASTERLY WAVE MENTIONED ABOVE AND THUS GO AROUND 40-50% POP MUCH OF THE FA THURSDAY...AND ARND 30% FRI WITH SOME DRYING BEHIND WAVE. MOISTURE QUICKLY RETURNS FROM THE SE LATER FRI AND SAT...AND WILL GO BACK TO 40-50% POPS. --EXTENDED-- SEEMS ATMOSPHERE LOCKED INTO ESE FLOW PATTERN WITH DEEP LAYER RIDGE AXIS OVER N FL/S GA. COULD BE MORE EASTERLY WAVES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA SUN THROUGH WED...BUT TIMING IMPOSSIBLE AT THIS POINT. WILL LEAVE SCT AFTN/EVENING POPS WITH NEAR CLIMO TEMPS. --MARINE-- NO HIGHLIGHTS OR MAJOR CHANGES EXPECTED. PRECIP TIMING WILL BE MAINLY LATE AFTN AND EVENING. PRELIM #S: BKV 070/091 071/091 3524 TPA 075/091 075/091 3423 GIF 073/091 073/092 2423 SRQ 073/091 073/091 3423 FMY 073/091 073/092 3423= .TBW...NONE. MORALES
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:54 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a home at the University Park Country Club. The resulting fire resulted in the home being a total loss. A nearby house was scorched in the blaze. A few miles away in Lakewood Ranch a second home was struck causing a hole in the roof and blowing out several windows.
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: 5310436.