1 tornado, 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 Jul 12, 12:55 AM EST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 155 AM EDT FRI JUL 12 2002 CURRENTLY...88D SHOWING A NE/SW BAND OF SHOWERS FROM W MANATEE...SW INTO THE GULF ASSOCIATED WITH LOW LEVEL CONFLUENT BOUNDARY. OTHER LONE SHOWERS OFF LEVY AND CITRUS...AND OVER LEE. SATELLITE INDICATING MORE DEBRIS CLOUDS THIS MORNING THAN YESTERDAY MORNING. --SHORT TERM-- QUASI-STATIONARY UPPER TROF OVER THE CENTRAL GULF AND ASSOCIATED WEAK SFC LOW ARE FCST BY MODELS TO MOVE SLOWLY NE TODAY...CROSSING N FL LATER TONIGHT/EARLY SAT. UPPER TROF RESPONSIBLE FOR NUDGING THE SYSTEM OVER THE CENT GULF HAS BEEN SHOWN BY THE MODELS FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS TO STALL IN THE LOWER MS RVR VALLEY BY LATE WEEKEND...AND THEN CLOSE OFF. MODERATELY STRONG DEEP SW FLOW WILL PERSIST THROUGH SAT...THEN WEAKEN AND VEER TO WESTERLY SUN AS SFC RIDGE AXIS BUILDS BACK INTO S FL. MAV/AVN POPS SEEM TOO HIGH AGAIN TODAY (80-90%)...AND PREFER LIKELY POPS OF NGM/FWC AND ETA. MAY EDGE POPS SLIGHTLY HIGHER TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR N FA...CLOSER TO UPPER TROF. FOR SAT...WILL CONTINUE LIKELY POPS...AND MAY SEE MORE OF A DEFINITIVE MORNING TIMING FOR COASTAL AND AFTN INLAND AS UPPER SUPPORT WEAKENS. SUN...SLIGHTLY LOWER POPS DUE TO LOWER PWS AS DEEP LAYER RIDGE BEGINS BUILDING BACK OVER THE AREA. MAX TEMPS WILL CONTINUE SLIGHTLY BELOW AVG...WITH ABV AVG MINS DUE TO SW FLOW OFF GULF. --EXTENDED-- AVN SHOWS SFC RIDGE AXIS MOVING ACROSS THE CENT FA MON AND TUE AS THE UPPER RIDGE SLOWLY BUILDS OVER THE SE U.S./GA. SFC WINDS WILL BE VARIABLE...WITH AFTN SEA BREEZES. OLD MRF KEEPS DEEP LAYER RIDGE ACROSS FL AND THE SE U.S. THROUGH THURS AS WELL AS SLIGHTLY DRIER DEEP LAYER MOISTURE. WAITING TO SEE LATEST MRF...BUT EXPECT TO CONTINUE SCT/NORM POPS FOR AFTN/EVENING THROUGH THE PERIOD. --MARINE-- MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW TIGHTEST GRAD TODAY AND SAT WITH MARGINAL SCEC CONDITIONS. WEAKENING WINDS LATER SAT THROUGH TUE. AS DEEP LAYER RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE AREA...EXPECT CONVECTION TO BE CENTERED MAINING DURING THE NIGHT DUE TO INSTABILITY. PRELIM #S: BKV 086/074 088/074 7564 TPA 087/078 088/077 6564 GIF 088/074 089/074 7565 SRQ 085/076 087/076 6564 FMY 088/075 090/075 6453= .TBW...NONE. MORALES
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-121400- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 530 AM EDT FRI JUL 12 2002 AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO THIS MORNING...IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS THIS SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEASTWARD...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA...ESPECIALLY FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA NORTHWARD. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND THE COASTAL COUNTIES OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THIS MORNING...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH...AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE OVER THE INTERIOR COUNTIES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY...STRONGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY INLAND THIS AFTERNOON...COULD PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS. FOR MARINE INTEREST...CONDITIONS MAY BE FAVORABLE FOR WATERSPOUT FORMATION...MAINLY THIS MORNING NEAR THE COAST. REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. MOVE INDOORS AS SOON AS YOU HEAR THUNDER OR SEE LIGHTNING. MORALES
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:29 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
SKYWARN spotter reported a weak tornado with winds estimated at 50 mph. The tornado blew debris around in parking lot and damaged a skylight at drug store.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2002Warnings in Florida, July 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: 5304639.