Extreme Cold in Florida, December 16, 2002

Name: Extreme Cold in Florida, December 16, 2002
Start: 2002-12-16T03:00
End: 2002-12-16T08:00
Location: Florida

December 16, 2002 · NWS TBW · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Another round of cold air swept into the region. Clear skies and light winds allowed temperatures to drop into the upper 20s for three to five 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.

Another round of cold air swept into the region. Clear skies and light winds allowed temperatures to drop into the upper 20s for three to five hours. Patchy wet frost was found south of this area along the Hillsborough/Polk county border into Hardee and DeSoto counties.

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 15, 8:27 PM EST, 6 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 15, 8:27 PM EST, 6 hours 33 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN
827 PM EST SUN DEC 15 2002

00Z SOUNDING TELLS THE STORY THIS EVENING. PW DOWN TO .19 AS CIRRUS
HAS CLEARED THE AREA. STRONG LOW LEVEL INVERSION SETTING UP WITH
NICE DRAINAGE FLOW AT THE SURFACE...SUPPORTED BY LIGHT NORTHERLY
WINDS ALL THE WAY UP TO 5K. TEMPS DROPPING VERY FAST ALREADY...AND
EVEN IF THEY SLOW DOWN THEY WILL LIKELY DROP A BIT BELOW CURRENT
ZONES. ONLY CONCERN IS THAT WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MAY KEEP
THINGS STIRRED UP A BIT...BUT INVERSION LOOKS SO STRONG ON THE
SOUNDING THE LOWER LEVELS WILL HAVE A TOUGH TIME BEING INFLUENCED
BY LIFT ALOFT.

THIS BRINGS UP QUESTION OF FREEZE/FROST. WARNING AREA CERTAINLY
LOOKS GOOD...AND BASED ON 37 ALREADY AT BKV AT 8 PM...I WILL HAVE TO
EXTEND INTO PASCO COUNTY. WILL ALSO ADD IN PATCHY FROST IN THE
FREEZE WARNING COUNTIES. IN THE CENTRAL ZONES...A FREEZE IS NOT
EXPECTED...BUT MID 30S LOOKS POSSIBLE IN THE USUAL COLD SPOTS AWAY
FROM THE COAST AND THE LAKES. WILL ADJUST THE ZONES ACCORDINGLY.
COULD SEE A LITTLE FROST ON ROOFTOPS...BUT GROUND IS PRETTY WARM
AND WET FROM RECENT RAINS...SO DO NOT EXPECT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT
IN THE ZONES.

MARINE...LIGHT NORTHERLY WINDS LOOK FINE FOR OVERNIGHT. NO CHANGES
PLANNED.

.TBW...FREEZE WARNING LEVY...INTERIOR CITRUS...INTERIOR HERNANDO...
       SUMTER...INTERIOR PASCO.
    ...FIRE WX WATCH MON AFTN INTERIOR CITRUS HERNANDO AND PASCO...
       ALL OF LEVY AND SUMTER...AND NORTHERN POLK.

ALSHEIMER

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 15, 5:55 AM EST, 21 hours 5 minutes before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-151630-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
555 AM EST SUN DEC 15 2002

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

HAZARDS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY.

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

...FREEZING TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE MONDAY MORNING...

COOL HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHERN GULF WILL BUILD TOWARD THE BIG
BEND REGION THROUGH MONDAY. CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS HIGH...WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE LOWER 30S
ACROSS LEVY...CITRUS...SUMTER...AND HERNANDO COUNTIES BY EARLY
MONDAY MORNING...WITH THE NORMALLY COLDER LOCATIONS POSSIBLY SEEING
TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING. IN ADDITION CALM WINDS MAY SUPPORT SOME
PATCHY TO SCATTERED FROST FORMATION AS WELL. RESIDENTS SHOULD COVER
OR MOVE INDOORS ANY COLD SENSITIVE PLANTS...AND BRING PETS INDOORS

...SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW

JCM

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 16, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Levy forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Citrus

When: December 16, 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 16, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pasco

When: December 16, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Pasco forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sumter

When: December 16, 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)

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: 5325611, 5325612, 5325613, 5325614, 5325615.