1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 18, 12:25 PM EST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
125 PM EDT THU JUL 18 2002
CURRENTLY: SUBSIDENCE IS RULING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WITH LIMITED
CLOUD COVER AND SHOWER ACTIVITY. I AM STILL EXPECTING SCATTERED
ACTIVITY LATER TODAY. THE BEST COVERAGE SHOULD BE OVER THE SOUTH
WHERE THE UPPER LEVELS ARE A TOUCH MORE FAVORABLE FOR CONVECTIVE
DEVELOPMENT.
FORECAST: OVERALL PATTERN AGAIN LOOKS TO CHANGE LITTLE OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. GENERAL DEEP RIDGING WILL BE IN PLACE...WITH
THE SURFACE RIDGE FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO ALLOW A LIGHT WESTERLY
COMPONENT THROUGH THE PERIOD CENTRAL AND NORTH. SCATTERED DIURNAL
CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE...BUT WITH HIGH PRESSURE REMAINING
OVERHEAD AT UPPER LEVELS SOME PLACES WILL GET HIT AND OTHERS WONT AS
BROAD SCALE UPWARD MOTION WILL BE ABSENT.
NOT SURE IF WE WILL SEE THE WIDESPREAD LOWS AT 80 OR ABOVE LIKE THE
PAST TWO MORNINGS. WINDS AT DAWN WILL BE VERY LIGHT...AND COULD
POSSIBLY TAKE ON AN OFFSHORE COMPONENT FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS...WHICH
WOULD DROP LOW TEMPS BELOW 80 BY A TOUCH. A QUICK PEAK AT THE
FIRST 5K FEET OF THE 18Z SOUNDING DOES INDICATE THE LOWEST LAYERS
HAVE GAINED A LIGHT EASTERLY COMPONENT.
WITH THE ABOVE THOUGHTS IN MIND...I WILL DROP THE HEAT ADVISORY
TONIGHT. MIDNIGHT SHIFT COULD LOOK AT IT AGAIN FOR REISSUANCE ON
FRIDAY IF MIN TEMPS SUPPORT. IT WILL STILL BE UNCOMFORTABLE...BUT
REACHING ADVISORY CRITERIA IS IN DOUBT.
MARINE AND FIRE WEATHER REMAIN QUIET WITH SCATTERED LIGHTNING AND
WINDS FROM CONVECTION THE MAIN HAZARD.
PRELIM NUMBERS:
BKV 73/94/74/93 2323
TPA 79/93/79/92 2323
GIF 76/95/76/95 2424
SRQ 77/91/77/91 2323
FMY 77/93/77/92 3434
.TBW...HEAT ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON FOR HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...
MANATEE...SARASOTA...CHARLOTTE...AND LEE COUNTIES.
ALSHEIMERThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning induced fire destroyed a stilt wood frame house.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5303298.