1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 15, 12:34 PM EST, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 134 PM EDT THU AUG 15 2002 CURRENTLY...SATELLITE IMAGERY AND 88D RETURNS SHOW CONVECTION ALREADY UNDERWAY ACROSS THE FA MAINLY INTERIOR ZONES...ALTHOUGH ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY IS DEVELOPING ALONG COASTAL ZONES AS WELL. MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTS INVERTED SFC TROUGH ACROSS THE CENTRAL PENINSULA EXTENDING SW-NE FROM NEAR KSRQ TO THE CAPE. THIS FEATURE ALONG WITH MESO-SCALE BNDRY INTERACTIONS WILL LEAD TO ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON WITH BEST AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY BECOMING FOCUSED OVER COASTAL ZONES INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. UNLIKE YESTERDAY THE STEERING FLOW IS A BIT STRONGER...SO EXPECT CONVECTION TO END A BIT SOONER TONIGHT AS IT PUSHES W-NWWD INTO THE GULF. SHORT TERM(TON-SUN)...MODELS IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON AND DEPICT ONLY SUBTLE CHANGES (MAINLY MOISTURE PROFILES) OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE ATLANTIC IS PROGD TO BUILD WEST OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE STATE AND SERN U.S. THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE ATTENDANT WESTERN ATLANTIC SFC HIGH REMAINING FIRMLY ENTRENCHED ACROSS THE N-CENTRAL PENINSULA...WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THE ENTIRE FA WITH AN E-SELY WIND FLOW FAVORING LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING CONVECTION EACH DAY. IN THE INTERIM THOUGH SOME SUBTLE CHANGES WILL TAKE PLACE AS DRIER MID LEVEL AIR MOVES W-NWWD INTO THE FA ON BACK SIDE OF SFC TROUGH CURRENTLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL FA. THIS DRIER AIR (PWS DROPPING OFF BY ABOUT 1/2 INCH) AND A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SUBSIDENCE FROM BUILDING UPPER RIDGE WILL HELP TO LOWER POP CHANCES SOME ON FRIDAY AND INTO SATURDAY...ALTHOUGH AT THIS POINT IN TIME I BELIEVE GUIDANCE POPS ARE A BIT TO LOW...SO WILL FORECAST POPS (40%) FOR BOTH DAYS. BY LATER ON SATURDAY ANOTHER TROPICAL WAVE WILL BE MOVING W-NW ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN BUT ITS INFLUENCE ON OUR WEATHER WILL BE MINIMAL AS IT REMAINS WELL TO THE SOUTH...BUT DEPTH OF MOISTURE DOES BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS THE FA...SO WILL BRING POPS BACK TO CLIMO-LEVELS (50%) FOR SUNDAY. GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES LOOK REASONABLE AND FOR THE MOST PART ACCEPTED. EXTENDED(MON-THURS)...LATEST AVN DEPICTS A COLD FRONT STALLING OUT OVER THE SERN U.S. ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS IT RUNS INTO THE DEEP LAYERED RIDGING. SFC RIDGE AXIS ACROSS THE N-CENTRAL PENINSULA WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT A DEEP E-SELY WIND FLOW WHICH WILL FAVOR CLIMO POPS THROUGHOUT MAINLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. NO REAL CHANGES EXPECTED. MARINE...FAIRLY STRAIGHT FORWARD FORECAST SHAPING UP AS SELY WIND FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. OVERALL GRADIENT WILL REMAIN WEAK ENOUGH TO SUPPORT DAILY AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE NEAR SHORE EACH AFTERNOON. NO HIGHLIGHTS ANTICIPATED. FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. PRELIMINARY CCF #S BKV 072/092 071/092 3424 TPA 075/092 075/092 3424 GIF 074/092 075/093 3424 SRQ 074/091 074/091 3424 FMY 074/092 075/092 3424 .TBW...NONE. MCMICHAEL
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-152330- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1119 AM EDT THU AUG 15 2002 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON SOME POSSIBLY STRONG... ABUNDANT MOISTURE ALONG WITH LATE AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS AND A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE PENINSULA WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER INTERIOR LOCATIONS BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH ADDITIONAL STORMS FIRING OFF ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE DURING THE MID AND LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. WITH A SOUTHEASTERLY STEERING FLOW...THE BEST CONCENTRATION AND INTENSITY OF STORMS WILL RESIDE OVER COASTAL LOCATIONS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS...BEFORE GRADUALLY DISSIPATING AFTER SUNSET. STORMS THAT DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FREQUENT TO EXCESSIVE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES AND GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH. IN ADDITION LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...AS WELL AS THE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND INTERSECTIONS. WHEN SKIES DARKEN...MOVE INDOORS. IF THERE IS TIME...UNPLUG APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. WAIT UNTIL THE STORM ENDS BEFORE USING THE TELEPHONE OR RUNNING WATER. MARINERS OPERATING ON TAMPA BAY...THE INLAND WATER WAYS OR THE ADJACENT GULF SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON. IF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR LOCATION...SEEK A SAFE HARBOR IMMEDIATELY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR ANY UPDATES AND OR WARNINGS SHOULD THEY BECOME NECESSARY. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) MCMICHAEL
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:08 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Emergency Management reported numerous trees, signs, and power lines down.
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: 5310439.