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 5, 8:50 AM EST, 10 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 950 AM EDT FRI JUL 5 2002 UPPER TROF STILL EXTENDS FROM THE SW ATLANTIC INTO THE NE GULF WITH VORT MAX OVER THE NE GULF. UPPER ENERGY OVER THE REGION IS COMBINING WITH MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE TO AGAIN PRODUCE CONVECTION OVER MOST OF THE AREA TODAY. NE GULF ACTIVITY ALREADY WELL ESTABLISHED AND IS OVER MY NORTHERN ZONES. 12Z SOUNDING SHOWING PWATS BACK UP NEAR 2 INCHES WITH WEAK SW FLOW...SO EXPECT STORMS TO DRIFT SLOWLY INLAND WITH SOME HEAVY RAINFALL RATES POSSIBLE ONCE AGAIN. CONVECTIVE TEMP ALREADY REACHED AND A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS/STORMS NOW DEVELOPING ALONG CENTRAL COASTAL AREAS. FORECAST LOOKS GOOD ATTM...NO CHANGES EXPECTED. LATEST BUOY REPORTS HAVE WINDS AND SEAS WITHIN CURRENT PACKAGE WITH WEAK GRADIENT...SO NO HIGHLIGHTS NEEDED. TBW...NONE. RD
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-051315- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 620 AM EDT FRI JUL 5 2002 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW ARE ALREADY OVER LEVY COUNTY...WILL FORM ALONG THE GULF COAST DURING THE MORNING AND THEN SLOWLY DRIFT INLAND DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE GREATEST THREAT WILL BE LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH MAY CAUSE MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AND LOW LYING AREAS. IN ADDITION... STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning knocked victim out of the boat. A second man in the boat jumped into the water and pulled his friend back in but could not revive the victim.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Citrus | 2002-07-05 | 41 | Male | Boat | Direct |
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: 5304646.