Flood and Hail in Florida, May 30, 2002

Name: Flood and Hail in Florida, May 30, 2002
Start: 2002-05-30T13:15
End: 2002-05-30T17:45
Location: Florida

May 30, 2002 · NWS TBW · 9 events in 5 counties and zones

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: $8,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 happened

The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.

The combination of a cold pool of air above 15,000 feet with hot and humid air near the surface, lifted by sea and bay breeze collisions, sparked several hail, and some damaging wind, producing thunderstorms across west central Florida during the afternoon and early evening of the 30th. The initial severe storms developed in Hernando County, where several trees were knocked down in Spring Hill (245 PM EDT), and soon after a fence was blown down on a property along Ronda Street in Spring Hill (311 PM EDT). About two hours later, another strong thunderstorm developed east of Tampa in Valrico, courtesy of the local Bay breeze. The sustained updraft produced multiple hail reports, including several ranging from dime to quarter size, between 424 PM and 442 PM EDT. Soon after, the outflow from this storm met with outflows from other cells to the north, allowing another cell to develop near Brandon and drift west toward east Tampa. This cell produced nickel size hail in Brandon at the Town Center Mall near interstate 75 (502 PM EDT), and a few minutes later in Progress Village (505 PM EDT). Torrential rains associated with this storm caused local, but minor, flooding of roads and parking lots in Brandon near Interstate 75.Lightning from these storms ignited several small brush fires, including one of 8 acres near Gibsonton along Interstate 75. Isolated storms well north (Levy and Citrus Co) and east (Highlands Co) produced three quarter to one inch diameter hail during the same episode. Penny size hail fell in Lecanto at 215 PM EDT; quarter-size hail in Chiefland at 450 PM EDT; and dime size hail in Lorida at 640 PM EDT.

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 May 30, 12:50 PM EST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 12:50 PM EST, 25 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
150 PM EDT THU MAY 30 2002

ACTIVE AFTERNOON EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION AS SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ALONG THE WEST COAST SEABREEZE
ATTM.  A FEW OF THE STORMS LATER IN THE AFTERNOON/EVENING MAY BE
STRONG TO SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREAT LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS HEAVY RAIN OF 2 TO 4 INCHES IS
LIKELY WITH THE STRONGER STORMS.

SLIGHT MODEL DIFFERENCES NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS MAKE FOR A TRICKY
FORECAST.  WILL CURRENTLY LEAN TOWARDS THE ETA MODEL DEVELOPING
ONSHORE WESTERLY FLOW BY AFTERNOON WHICH WILL PUSH
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS INLAND.  AVN APPEARS TO BE OVER-DEVELOPING A
THERMAL TROUGH OVER FLORIDA MAINTAINING A NORTHEAST FLOW ACROSS THE
REGION.  THIS APPEARS UNREALISTIC.  WILL TREND TOWARD HIGHEST POPS
OVER THE INTERIOR AS FRIDAY AFTERNOON COULD BE QUITE ACTIVE WITH
WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.  WITH SUBTROPICAL JET OVER
SOUTH FLORIDA...VORT MAX MOVING ACROSS THE AREA...AND COLD AIR
ALOFT...ALL POINT TO HIGH POPS WITH RISK OF STRONG STORMS MAINLY
OVER THE INTERIOR.

MUCH WILL DEPEND ON TRACK OF U/L LOW OVER THE NORTHERN GULF.  LIKE
ETA SOLUTION OF RETROGRADING SYSTEM UNDERNEATH U/L RIDGE DEVELOPING
OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.  THIS WOULD ALLOW TEMPS TO WARM ALOFT
OVER THE FA AND STABILIZE ATMOSPHERE SOMEWHAT.  ALSO...U/L JET WILL
WEAKEN AND WILL NOT BE IN A FAVORABLE LOCATION TO PROVIDE LIFT.  WILL
MAINTAIN LOWER POPS THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH BEST CHANCE OF RAIN OVER
THE INTERIOR EACH AFTERNOON.

EXTENDED PERIOD DEPENDS LARGELY ON MOVEMENT OF U/L LOW.  ALTHOUGH
SOME WARMING WILL TAKE PLACE ALOFT...SCATTERED AFTERNOON SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE EACH DAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK.

MARINE...WEAK GRADIENT WILL PERSIST OVER THE COASTAL WATERS WITH
ONSHORE COMPONENT IN THE AFTERNOON DUE TO SEABREEZE FORMATION.
NO HIGHLIGHTS ARE EXPECTED.

FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS RH LEVELS REMAIN
WELL ABOVE WATCH/RED FLAG CRITERIA.

PRELIM NUMBERS:
BKV 066/089 066/090 2523
TPA 072/088 073/089 2423
GIF 071/090 071/091 5744
SRQ 070/087 070/088 2423
FMY 070/090 070/091 3534

.TBW...NONE.

OGLESBY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Citrus

When: May 30, 1:15 PM EST
Where: Citrus County, Lecanto
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 28.850, -82.483

Thunderstorm Wind, Hernando

When: May 30, 1:45 PM EST
Where: Hernando County, Spring Hill
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 28.550, -82.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Hernando

When: May 30, 2:11 PM EST
Where: Hernando County, Spring Hill
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 28.550, -82.450

Hail, Hillsborough

When: May 30, 3:24 PM EST to 3:38 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough County, Valrico
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 27.933, -82.283

Hail, Hillsborough

When: May 30, 3:39 PM EST to 3:42 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough County, Valrico
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 27.933, -82.283

Hail, Levy

When: May 30, 3:50 PM EST
Where: Levy County, Chiefland
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.500, -82.883

Hail, Hillsborough

When: May 30, 4:02 PM EST to 4:05 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough County, Brandon
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 27.933, -82.283

Flood, Hillsborough

When: May 30, 4:15 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough County, Brandon
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 27.906, -82.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Highlands

When: May 30, 5:40 PM EST to 5:45 PM EST
Where: Highlands County, Lorida
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 27.450, -81.267

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, May 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: 5291531, 5291532, 5291533, 5291534, 5291535, 5291536, 5291537, 5291539, 5291538.