Extreme Cold in Florida, December 1 to 2, 2002

Name: Extreme Cold in Florida, December 1 to 2, 2002
Start: 2002-12-01T22:00
End: 2002-12-02T09:00
Location: Florida

December 1 to 2, 2002 · NWS TBW · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Temperatures in Levy county dropped below freezing for about 11 hours while the rest of these counties were below freezing for 4 to 5 hours.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 happened

The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.

Temperatures in Levy county dropped below freezing for about 11 hours while the rest of these counties were below freezing for 4 to 5 hours.

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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 1, 9:30 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 9:30 PM EST, 30 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION ..UPDATED..
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN
930 PM EST SUN DEC 1 2002

STILL SOME LINGERING CLOUDS ACROSS LEE COUNTY EARLY THIS EVENING IN
ASSOCIATION WITH THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY NOW ACROSS THE STRAITS AND
KEYS...OTHERWISE SKIES WERE MAINLY CLEAR EXCEPT FOR A FEW HIGH CIRRUS
STREAMING ACROSS MY FAR NORTHERN MOST ZONES. THE FORECAST PROBLEM
TONIGHT CONTINUES TO REVOLVE AROUND MIN TEMPS. LATEST MTR/FAWN OBS
ALREADY SHOW TEMPERATURES RUNNING UNDER 18Z MAV NUMBERS BY 2 TO AS
MUCH AS 5 DEGREES AS I WRITE. FREEZE WARNING FOR LEVY COUNTY LOOKS IN
GOOD SHAPE...BUT CURRENT TEMP/DEW POINT TRENDS HAVE ME CONCERNED
ABOUT POSSIBLE FREEZING TEMPS OVER SUMTER...AND INTERIOR PORTIONS OF
CITRUS AND HERNANDO COUNTIES. GIVEN THE UPSTREAM DEW POINTS IN THE
UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S AND WINDS PROGD TO DROP OFF TO NEAR CALM WILL
WORD FOR SOME FREEZING TEMPS POSSIBLE IN THE RURAL AREAS OF CITRUS...
SUMTER...AND HERNANDO COUNTIES IN A LATE EVENING UPDATE. IN ADDITION
TO THE COLD TEMPS...ADDED GROUND MOISTURE FROM TODAYS RAINFALL ACROSS
MY SOUTHERN MOST ZONES MAY LEAD TO SOME FOG OR LOW CLOUD DEVELOPMENT
OVERNIGHT AS SKIES CLEAR OUT...SO WILL INTRODUCE WORDING OF IN THE
UPDATE AS WELL.

C-MAN AND OFFSHORE BUOY TRENDS SUPPORT ONGOING PACKAGE...SO OTHER
THAN CLEANING UP PRECIP WORDING IN THE SOUTHERN MOST LEG...NO OTHER
CHANGES EXPECTED IN THE 1030 PM UPDATE.

.TBW...FREEZE WARNING TONIGHT LEVY COUNTY.
    ...A RED FLAG WARNING MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR LEVY...CITRUS...
       HERNANDO...SUMTER...AND PASCO COUNTIES.
    ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR HILLSBOROUGH...POLK
       HARDEE...DESOTO...AND EAST OF I-75 IN MANATEE...AND SARASOTA
       COUNTIES.
    ...A FIRE WEATHER WATCH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR LEVY...CITRUS...
       HERNANDO...SUMTER...PASCO...HILLSBOROUGH COUNTIES.

MCMICHAEL

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 1, 6:26 AM EST, 15 hours 34 minutes before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-011430-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
626 AM EST SUN DEC 1 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY:

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Levy

When: December 1, 10:00 PM EST to December 2, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Levy forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Citrus

When: December 2, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hernando

When: December 2, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sumter

When: December 2, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Sumter forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 28.705, -82.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pasco

When: December 2, 4:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Pasco forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, December 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: 5325606, 5325607, 5325608, 5325610, 5325609.