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 Oct 24, 8:05 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 905 PM EDT THU OCT 24 2002 SHORTWAVE DAMPENING OUT OVER THE EASTERN GULF AS ASSOCIATED VORT MAX GENERATING A FEW SHOWERS MOVING ASHORE IN AND NORTH OF THE BAY AREA. UPPER RIDGE TO THE SOUTH BEGINNING TO NUDGE NORTHWARD. WV SAT IMAGERY SHOWING DRIER AIR ALOFT OVER THE SE GULF WITH CIRRUS SHIELD FROM WESTERN GULF MOVING OVER NORTH CENTRAL GULF. DIURNAL CONVECTION LONG GONE WITH POLK COUNTY GETTING MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WITH SOME LOCALLY 3 TO 4 INCHES PLUS AMOUNTS. 00Z SOUNDING SHOWING WESTERLY FLOW OVER THE AREA. WEAK SFC FLOW OVER THE AREA KEEPING WINDS VARIABLE. LATEST MODEL SOLUTIONS END VORT MAX PRECIP SHORTLY. SO WILL UPDATE ZONES LATER TO REMOVE POPS. STILL EXPECT SOME PATCHY FOG IN TYPICAL FOG PRONE AREAS ONCE AGAIN WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...CLEARING SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS LATE. WEAK FLOW OVER THE MARINE AREAS KEEPING CONDITIONS BENIGN AND WILL JUST REMOVE EVENING POPS. .TBW...NONE. RD
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-241500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 620 AM EDT THU OCT 24 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: AN UPPER ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE PUSHING ACROSS THE PENINSULA WILL GENERATE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...BECOMING MOST NUMEROUS OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF GENERATING GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD COME TO AN END ALONG THE GULF COAST LATER TODAY AND OVER THE INLAND PENINSULA EARLY THIS EVENING. LOCALIZED DOWNPOURS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES OF RAINFALL ARE POSSIBLE...WITH STORM WATER RUNOFF CAUSING TEMPORARY FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. RESIDENTS ALONG THE PEACE RIVER BASIN SHOULD ALSO BE ESPECIALLY ALERT TO ANY SUDDEN STREAM AND RIVER RISES WITH ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL FOLLOWING THE HEAVY RAINS OF WEDNESDAY EVENING. AREAS OF PATCHY DENSE LATE NIGHT FOG WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH AREAS OF PATCHY LATE NIGHT FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH DAY. DMR
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:00 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning penetrated four different safety devices to destroy an electrical substation. About 2,300 people were without power for up to 20 hours.
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, October 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: 5318897.