Funnel Cloud, Charlotte
- When
- September 9, 5:40 PM EST
- Where
- Charlotte County, Punta Gorda
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 26.900, -81.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Several eyewitnesses viewed the funnel cloud to the west
Funnel Cloud in Florida, September 9, 2002
1 funnel cloud, 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
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 Sep 9, 2:55 PM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 9, 2:55 PM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 355 PM EDT MON SEP 9 2002 CURRENTLY...NOT MUCH CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY ACORSS THE AREA EXCEPT A BAND OF SHOWERS FROM TAMPA BAY SE TOWARD THE LAKE MOVING SW. FORECAST... FORECAST MODEL OF CHOICE IS AVN. GUSTAV IS TO THE NORTHEAST OVER THE ATLANTIC WITH A WEAK LOW OVER THE GULF AND A TROF LOOSELY CONNECTING THE TWO ACROSS THE FLORIDA STRAITS. SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR MOVES OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES IN THE SHORT TERM BUT SURGE OF MOISTURE ACCOMPANYING TROF BRINGS MORE PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES WED-THU AND THEN RETREATS SOUTH LATE THU AND FRIDAY. BACK TO EASTERLY FLOW AND MORE TYPICAL AFTERNOON ACTIVITY FOR THE WEEKEND. MARINE... GRADIENT HAS WEAKENED AND THEREFORE NO SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS. FIRE WX... NO PROBLEMS. PRELIM NUMBERS BKV BB 071/091 071/090 071 03122 TPA BE 073/090 074/090 075 03232 GIF BE 072/090 073/090 074 03232 SRQ ET 073/091 074/090 076 03244 FMY ET 074/091 075/090 077 03244 .TBW...NONE. 03
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:39 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Minnesota, September 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 9, 2002
- Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 9 to 10, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 9 to 10, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Texas, September 9 to 10, 2002
- Hail in Wisconsin, September 9, 2002
- Extreme Cold in California, September 9 to 10, 2002
- Flood in Texas, September 9 to 12, 2002
- Flood in Texas, September 9 to 10, 2002
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, September 9, 2002
More
Every storm in Florida in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 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: 5309652.