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 Aug 1, 12:56 PM EST, 1 hour 34 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 156 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003 NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE BIG PICTURE. BERMUDA HIGH BEING PANCAKED BY CUTOFF VORTEX DROPPING FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST INTO THE NORTHEAST U.S./MID ATLC WILL BE REFLECTED AT THE SFC BY AN OSCILLATING SFC RIDGE ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND S PENINSULA. THAT MEANS A CONTINUATION OF OVERNIGHT THROUGH EARLY AFTN MARINE ACTIVITY...AND GENERALLY LATE MORNING THROUGH EARLY EVENING ACTIVITY INLAND. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE BIG PICTURE...BUT DIFFER A BIT EARLY ON. ETA MOVES EASTERLY WAVE NOW IN THE BAHAMAS ALONG FLS EAST COAST THROUGH SAT NIGHT...WITH BACKSIDE ENE FLOW DEVELOPING ACROSS THE PENINSULA. GFS KEEPS THE WAVE FARTHER E AND N WHICH APPEARS TO BE A BETTER SOLUTION BASED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGES... LEAVING MORE OF A SE TO S BACKGROUND FLOW. SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - SUN): SUBTLE CHANGES OCCURRED TODAY...WITH A TAD MORE ROBUST SE FLOW NEAR THE SFC AT DAYBREAK (SINCE DISSIPATED) PRODUCING NUMEROUS MORNING TSTMS OFFSHORE AND SLOWING DOWN SOMEWHAT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT INLAND. ECSB ACTIVITY MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED AS WELL. COVERAGE INCREASING QUICKLY AS CONVECTIVE TEMP HAS BEEN REACHED. EXPECT EVENING ACTIVITY TO FOCUS OVER INTERIOR AND S COUNTIES...AND WILL DECIDE LAST MINUTE WHETHER TO ADD A REMAINDER OF AFTN/EVE PERIOD. THEREAFTER...EXPECT A QUIET OVERNIGHT AND EARLY MORNING EACH DAY AS SE FLOW HOLDS DEVELOPMENT OFFSHORE. GIVEN DEEP LAYERED MOISTURE AND PERSISTENT (THOUGH WEAK) SHEAR AXIS NEARBY...WILL CONTINUE LIKELY AFTN CATEGORY EACH DAY AND SCT/ISOLD DURING THE EVENING. MAX TEMPS SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO THIS AFTN (89-92). EXTENDED (SUN NIGHT - FRI): SURFACE RIDGE AXIS WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THE PERIOD AS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES OVER EASTERN U.S. THUS WILL CONTINUE TO SEE SCATTERED MAINLY LATE MORNING THROUGH EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES. MARINE...AS EXPECTED...ACTIVITY DRYING UP THIS AFTN BUT WILL REDEVELOP AFTER DARK AS INSTABILITY SHIFTS TO THE WATER. COULD BE NUMEROUS TSTMS N OF TARPON AGAIN SAT AND SUN MORNING...BUT WILL SETTLE FOR SCT OVERNIGHT/MORNING AND ISOLD AFTN/EVE. WINDS A TAD MORE S/SE AND PERHAPS A SHADE HIGHER...STILL NOT SIGNIFICANT. FIRE WX: NO PROBLEMS EXPECTED. PRELIM NUMBERS: TPA 076/091 076/090 2635 FMY 075/091 075/091 3535 GIF 074/092 074/092 3636 SRQ 075/090 075/089 2525 BKV 071/092 071/090 2636 .TBW...NONE. BSG/PRC
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-011600- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE ONSHORE FROM THE GULF PRIMARILY NORTH OF TAMPA BAY DURING THE MORNING HOURS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. DURING THE AFTERNOON... AS THE GULF SEA BREEZE MOVES INLAND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL CONTAIN HAIL...HEAVY RAIN IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER. EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED EACH DAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED THIS AFTERNOON. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE REMINDED TO RELAY ANY REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NWS OFFICE IN RUSKIN.
FLZ051-011800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 123 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003 ...TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL CONTINUE OVER TAMPA... A STATIONARY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM...WILL AFFECT WEST PARK...TOWN N COUNTRY...TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND TAMPA...UNTIL 200 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES...AND HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER IS POSSIBLE. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL UNTIL THE STORM SUBSIDES. GOLDSMITH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 35 year old construction worker was struck by lightning while in his truck. CPR was performed then he was taken to a hospital where he was in critical but stable condition.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2003
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: 5377479.