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 13, 8:18 AM EST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 918 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002 MORNING SOUNDING SHOWS PWS AT 2.14 INCHES...GIVING A DARN GOOD REASON FOR THE WIDESPREAD RAIN THIS MORNING. EXPECT THE RAIN TO CONTINUE FOR A FEW HOURS MORE CENTRAL AND NORTH COASTAL...AND DEVELOP OVER THE INTERIOR AND SOUTH WHERE IT HAS NOT RAINED YET. RAISED POPS ON MORNING UPDATE. GETTING GOOD GUSTS WITH THE SHOWERS... WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING SINCE SOUNDING SHOWS 30 KNOTS OFF THE SURFACE. MARINE: TIDES RUNNING A FOOT OR MORE ABOVE NORMAL FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA NORTH AS CONNECTIVELY INDUCED GUSTY SSW WINDS HAVE RAISED THE NEAR SHORE WATER LEVELS. AS THE CONVECTION MOVES INLAND...THE WINDS SHOULD DIE DOWN AND THE WATER LEVELS SHOULD SLOWLY COME BACK DOWN. MAY ISSUE ANOTHER MWS AROUND NOON IF THE WATERS LEVELS ARE STILL UP...BECAUSE ASTRONOMICAL TIDES START RISING AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON. WHILE IT IS GUSTY AND ROUGH AT TIMES...THE SUSTAINED WINDS AWAY FROM THE CONVECTION ARE BELOW ANY HIGHLITE CRITERIA. MAY BEEF UP THE WIND GUST WORDING...BUT SEE NO REASON TO PUT UP FLAGS AS SUSTAINED WINDS AND SEAS ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE (ONLY 3.6 FOOT SEAS AT BUOY 42036 WITH 10 KNOTS SUSTAINED). .TBW...NONE. ALSHEIMER
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-131400- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 530 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002 AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...CURRENTLY OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO...IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA TODAY. THIS DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH THE ALREADY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST TOWARD THE COASTAL COUNTIES OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THIS MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE INTERIOR COUNTIES BY LATER IN THE MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREAT FROM ANY STRONGER SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH. REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. MOVE INDOORS AS SOON AS YOU HEAR THUNDER OR SEE LIGHTNING. FOR MARINE INTEREST...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR WATERSPOUT FORMATION THIS MORNING. WIND GUSTS OF 35 KNOTS OR GREATER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY STRONGER SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. MORALES
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1110 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1033 AM LAKE WALES FL 60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
07/13/02 POLKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1118 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1033 AM LAKE WALES FL 60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
07/13/02 POLK REPORTED BY FLORIDA
HIGHWAY PATROL.
FAThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:29 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado began as a waterspout over the Peace River and moved onshore near the Fisherman's Village.
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: 5304640.