Florida, 2002

Lightning Strike in Florida, July 24, 2002

July 24, 2002 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
1

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 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 Jul 24, 1:00 PM EST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 1:00 PM EST, 4 hours before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
200 PM EDT WED JUL 24 2002

CURRENTLY...VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP AND 88D RETURNS DEPICT CONVECTION
DEVELOPING ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY FROM CENTRAL
PINELLAS COUNTY NORTH INTO CENTRAL PASCO COUNTY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
LATEST LAPS SOUNDING DATA DEPICTS A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS
OVERHEAD AS WELL AS THE PRESENCE OF MID LEVEL DRY AIR AND RATHER COLD
50H TEMPS  -9C. FAVORABLE THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES COMBINED WITH SEA/
LAKE BREEZE BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS AND NWWD MOVING TROPICAL WAVE
LOCATED TO THE SOUTH...WILL RESULT IN ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DVLPMT
THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON LINGERING INTO THE EVENING HOURS...WITH THE
POSSIBILITY OF SOME STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WITH HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS.

SHORT TERM...(TON-SAT)...MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN RELATIVELY GOOD
AGREEMENT SO A BLEND WILL BE USED. WEAK UPPER TROUGHINESS OVER THE
SERN U.S. AND A TROPICAL WAVE TO THE SOUTH WILL MOVE SLOWLY WEST
NORTHWEST OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS UPPER HEIGHTS BEGIN TO BUILD INTO
THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE EAST. SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY MODELS...UPPER
RIDGING NOT AS PRONOUNCED AS EARLIER RUNS HAD DEPICTED...SO OVERALL
SUPPRESSION FROM IT SHOULD BE SOMEWHAT WEAKER. IN ADDITION MODELS NOW
KEEP PWS ABOUT THE SAME (BETWEEN 1.7-2) THROUGH SATURDAY AND WITH
THE SFC RIDGE AXIS MEANDERING ABOUT THE CENTRAL PENINSULA...SHOULD
CONTINUE TO SEE SCATTERED (30-40% POPS) SEA BREEZE DRIVEN DIURNAL
CONVECTION EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THROUGH THE PERIOD. MAV/FWC/MET
TEMPS ARE CLOSE...SO WILL NOT DEVIATE MUCH FROM THEM.

EXTENDED(SUN-WED)...LATEST AVN SHOWS UPPER RIDGING BECOMING A BIT
MORE PRONOUNCED ACROSS THE FA WITH A SLIGHT DECREASE IN PWS. THIS
MAY LEAD TO LOWER POP CHANCES...HOWEVER AT THIS TIME WILL OPT TO
KEEP SCATTERED POP WORDING IN PLACE UNTIL LATE MODEL RUNS CAN BE
REVIEWED. IN ADDITION WITH INCREASING HEIGHTS...TEMPS WILL BE ON THE
INCREASE WITH READING CLIMBING ABOVE SEASONAL LEVELS.

MARINE...SFC RIDGE AXIS MEANDERING ABOUT THE CENTRAL PENINSULA WILL
CONTINUE TO FAVOR SE-SLY FLOW OVER THE SOUTHERN LEGS AND S-SWLY FLOW
FURTHER TO THE NORTH. OTHER THAN HIGHER WIND/SEAS IN THE VICINITY OF
TSTMS...NO HIGHLIGHTS ARE EXPECTED.

FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS.

PRELIMINARY CCF #S
BKV 072/093 072/092 3424
TPA 077/091 077/090 3424
GIF 075/093 075/093 3524
SRQ 075/090 075/090 3424
FMY 074/092 075/092 3424

.TBW...NONE.

MCMICHAEL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Pinellas

When
July 24, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Pinellas County, Clearwater
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Struck a business and destroyed the phone system.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 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: 5303301.