Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, August 11, 2003
Start: 2003-08-11T13:00
End: 2003-08-11T13:00
Location: Florida

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 MFL wrote it up.

Nickel-size hail fell and thunderstorm winds damaged a screened porch. Trees were also blown down.

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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 8:55 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 8:55 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes before

SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI
955 AM EDT MON AUG 11 2003

MORNING MIAMI SOUNDING SOMEWHAT MORE UNSTABLE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY
AS H5 TEMPERATURE HAS DROPPED TO -9C AND VERTICAL TOTALS ARE JUST
OVER 27C. PRECIPITABLE WATER HAS DROPPED JUST A BIT BUT ASSUME THAT
IS TEMPORARY. WILL HIGHLIGHT HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK TO INCLUDE A
BETTER CHANCE OF STRONG WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLY HAIL WITH COLDER
TEMPS AND MORE DRY AIR ALOFT.

AS FAR AS TIMING OF THE CONVECTION...NWS/UM NESTED MESOETA SHOWS
VIGOROUS THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING EAST COAST AREA AROUND 3 PM EDT
AND INCREASING THROUGH AROUND 7-8 PM EDT...SOMEWHAT LATER THAN
YESTERDAY. WILL ENHANCE ZONE FORECAST WORDING SOME TO SHOW THIS. THE
GULF COAST OF SOUTH FLORIDA FROM COLLIER SOUTH IS NOT DEPICTED AS
ACTIVE AS THE ATLANTIC COAST THIS AFTERNOON...BUT STILL SOME
THUNDERSTORMS AROUND ESPECIALLY INLAND.

50

.MIA...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 11, 8:05 AM EST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

FLZ063-066>075-112200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
905 AM EDT MON AUG 11 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON...
...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS COASTAL AREAS...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA
ONCE AGAIN TODAY. THE MOST FAVORED AREAS FOR THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT WILL BE NEAR COASTAL AREAS EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON ONCE
THE SEABREEZE CIRCULATION BECOMES WELL ESTABLISHED. THE STORMS WILL
LIKELY MOVE TOWARD THE INTERIOR REGIONS AS THE SEABREEZES MOVE
INLAND. HOWEVER...DUE TO A SLIGHT SOUTHWEST STEERING FLOW...STORMS
WILL LIKELY CLUSTER OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE SOUTH FLORIDA
PENINSULA BY THE END OF THE DAY.

SOMEWHAT COLDER AIR ALOFT HAS MOVED ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA IN THE LAST
24 HOURS...ENHANCING THE INSTABILITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE GREATEST
THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY WILL BE
FREQUENT CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES...STRONG WIND GUSTS AS
HIGH AS 50 MPH...AND POSSIBLY EVEN HAIL WITH THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DETAILED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND ON
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT MIAMIWEATHER.INFO.
FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT
ELTIEMPOENMIAMI.INFO.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD
THUNDERSTORMS BECOME STRONG.

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Miami-Dade

When: August 11, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Miami-Dade County, Miami Lake
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 25.917, -80.300

Thunderstorm Wind, Miami-Dade

When: August 11, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Miami-Dade County, Miami Lake
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 25.917, -80.300

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, August 2003

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: 5334588, 5335018.