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 Jun 29, 2:10 PM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION...COR WORDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 310 PM EDT SAT JUN 29 2002 WET PATTERN ACROSS THE REGION WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK. LIGHT SOUTHEAST BOUNDARY FLOW WILL PERSIST ONE MORE DAY BEFORE BECOMING SOUTHERLY ON SUNDAY NIGHT AS SURFACE HIGH TEMPORARILY RETREATS EAST OF FLORIDA. MOISTURE WILL POOL OVER THE NORTHERN FA INVOF A WEAK U/L LOW. THIS WILL INCREASE AFTERNOON SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY NORTH OF TAMPA. MONDAY APPEARS VERY SIMILAR WITH WEAK SOUTHERLY BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW AND DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE OVER THE REGION. HIGH POPS ACROSS THE AREA WITH HEAVIEST RAINFALL LIKELY NORTH OF TAMPA...WITH TRAINING OF CELLS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. SURFACE HIGH WILL BEGIN TO BUILD OVER SOUTH FLORIDA MONDAY NIGHT CAUSING THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW TO SHIFT SOUTHWEST. WITH U/L LOW POSITIONED OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF...ALTHOUGH WEAK...DEEP SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE FA. THIS WILL LEAD TO LATE NIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND SPREADING LOCALLY ONSHORE DURING THE MORNING HOURS. LOCALIZED TRAINING OF CELLS MAY DEVELOP ALONG PORTIONS OF THE COAST WITH HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. THIS PATTERN WILL PERSIST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TIMING IS DIFFICULT...BUT IT APPEARS THE U/L LOW AND POSSIBLE WEAK SURFACE LOW WILL BEGIN TO LIFT EAST OF FLORIDA THURSDAY WITH FLOW BECOMING WEST TO NORTHWEST ACROSS THE FA FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THIS WOULD DECREASE AFTERNOON CONVECTION OVER MUCH OF THE FA WITH THE BEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE INTERIOR. SURFACE HIGH WILL BUILD OVER THE SOUTHEAST U.S. ON SATURDAY WITH DRIER AIR ALOFT ADVECTING OVER MUCH OF THE FA SIGNIFICANTLY LOWERING POPS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SATURDAY. MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS LESS THAN 15 KNOTS AND SEAS LESS THAN 4 FEET THROUGH THE PERIOD. PRELIM S: BKV 071/089 071/088 3737 TPA 073/089 075/088 4747 GIF 073/091 074/091 3636 SRQ 072/089 074/088 4747 FMY 073/091 074/090 4747= TBW...NONE. OGLESBY
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was struck on a bicycle trying to escape an approaching storm. He had been fishing in the Tampa Bypass Canal near Interstate 75 and Fowler Avenue.
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, Hillsborough | 2002-06-29 | 43 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | 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, June 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: 5298412.