Name: Funnel Cloud in Florida, August 26, 2002
Start: 2002-08-26T15:55
End: 2002-08-26T15:55
Location: Florida

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 1:30 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:30 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI
230 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

RADAR SHOWS CONVECTION BLOSSOMING ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA AT THIS HOUR AND
ALSO CONTINUING ACTIVITY OVER THE SOUTHWEST COASTAL WATERS. RAINFALL
WILL LIKELY SPREAD ACROSS THE PENINSULA THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING. LACK OF MOISTURE IN THE MID LEVELS WILL LIKELY KEEP STORMS
FROM GETTING STRONG. MODEL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW DISAGREEMENT ON
POPS NEXT 48 HOURS WITH ETA MOS IMPLYING THE MOST RAINFALL...LIKELY
CATEGORY. ETA SOLUTION ACTUALLY APPEARS THE BEST AT THIS TIME GIVEN
RECENT PERFORMANCE AND THIS RUNS INITIALIZATION. SURFACE RIDGE WILL
REMAIN JUST SOUTH OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA THROUGH TUESDAY. UPPER LOW
JUST EAST OF THE AREA WILL MOVE NORTH/NORTHEAST AND LIKELY SHEAR OUT AS
IT DOES. WEDNESDAY WILL BE THE TRANSITION DAY AS RIDGE BEGINS TO MOVE
BACK NORTH. DEEPER MOISTURE AND LIGHT STEERING FLOW WILL ENSURE LOTS OF
CONVECTION. FORECASTS OVER ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA WILL MAINTAIN LIKELY
POPS FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. WILL ALSO KEEP SCATTERED SHOWERS
SOUTHWEST COAST FOR OVERNIGHT HOURS...SCATTERED SHOWERS/STORMS INTERIOR
AND EAST COAST EACH EVENING.

RIDGE WILL BE NORTH OF SOUTH FLORIDA BEGINNING THURSDAY AND SOUTH
FLORIDA WEATHER WILL RETURN TO A MORE NORMAL SUMMER DIURNAL
PRECIPITATION PATTERN...SCATTERED NIGHTTIME/MORNING SHOWERS EAST COAST
AND SCATTERED AFTERNOON/EVENING STORMS INTERIOR AND WEST. NO CHANGES
THROUGH MONDAY.

WILL SHIFT WINDS TO A BIT MORE SOUTHERLY EAST COAST MARINE AREAS THIS
PACKAGE AS RIDGE A LITTLE LESS DEFINED AND SLIGHTLY FURTHER NORTH AND
EAST. WILL ALSO BUMP UP SPEEDS A BIT GIVEN NEWEST GUIDANCE AND TRENDS.
AS RIDGE MOVES OVERHEAD WEDNESDAY NIGHT WINDS WILL BE LIGHT AND
VARIABLE. AS RIDGE MOVES NORTH THURSDAY WINDS WILL RETURN TO EASTERLY
BUT REMAIN ONLY 10 KNOTS OR SO. AVN SHOWING INFLUENCE OF NEXT TROPICAL
WAVE BACKING WINDS TO NORTHEAST THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...HOWEVER WILL
LEAVE FORECAST WIND EAST AT THIS TIME GIVEN UNCERTAINTY OF AVNS
HANDLING OF THIS FEATURE.

NO PROBLEMS FOR FIRE WEATHER.

PBI TT 076/090 075/090 075 24363
FLL TT 077/090 077/090 077 24363
MIA TT 077/090 077/090 076 24363
APF TT 077/088 077/088 075 24363

.MIA...NONE.

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:52 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Collier

When: August 26, 3:55 PM EST
Where: Collier County, 5 mi N of Naples
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 26.099, -81.381 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A funnel cloud was seen.

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, August 2002

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: 5308108.