1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 2, 12:10 PM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 110 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 CURRENTLY...SCT SHOWERS AND TSTMS HAVE BEEN RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OVER THE INTERIOR...A TAD EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. USING LIGHTNING CLIMO STUDY FROM FSU...CONVECTION WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE...THEN COVERAGE WILL BE RELATIVELY HIGH AND UNIFORM ACROSS MUCH OF THE FA BY LATER THIS AFTN. THIS ASSUMES A SFC RIDGE AXIS BETWEEN TPA AND JAX. --SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-MON)-- MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH LARGE SCALE PATTERN NEXT FEW DAYS. RATHER UNUSUAL AMPLIFIED UPPER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE...WITH RIDGE ACROSS THE WEST...TROF OVER THE EAST AND RIDGE AGAIN OVER THE WEST ATLC. MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO BE HIGH ENOUGH FOR ABOVE CLIMO POPS... THE ONLY DIFFICULTY WILL BE PLACEMENT OF SFC RIDGE AXIS...WHICH WILL DICTATE TIMING OF CONVECTION. FOR SUN...A BROAD RIDGE AXIS WILL BE OVER THE CENT/NCENT FA...WITH LIGHT SE LOW LEVEL FLOW...BECOMING ONSHORE NEAR THE COAST. THIS SHOULD KEEP MAINLY AFTN/EVENING POPS. BY MON...THE GFS LOWERS UPPER HTS A LITTLE MORE THAN THE ETA OVER THE SE U.S...RESULTING IN MORE SW LOW LEVEL FLOW FROM TPA N...WHICH WOULD FAVOR MORNING AND EARLY AFTN CONVECTION. GIVEN THIS SEEMS TO BE THE PREFERRED PATTERN THIS SUMMER...WILL GO WITH MORE OF A GFS RIDGE AXIS PLACEMENT BY MON. WILL KEEP 60%/LIKELY POPS FOR SUN...AND 50-60% POPS BY MON. MAY HAVE A LITTLE LESS COVERAGE NEAR THE COAST FROM TPA/SRQ NORTH ON MON IF SW LOW LEVEL FLOW VERIFIES. MAX TEMPS WILL LIKELY BE A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL OVER THE N 1/2 OF THE FA GIVEN ABOVE NORMAL POPS AND SW FLOW OFF GULF. --EXTENDED (MON NIGHT-SAT)-- UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER EASTERN U.S. THROUGH THE PERIOD KEEPING RIDGE AXIS OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA. MOISTURE WILL REMAIN PLENTIFUL SO WILL CONTINUE WITH SCATTERED POPS EACH DAY MAINLY FROM LATE MORNING INTO THE EVENING HOURS EACH DAY WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES. --MARINE-- NO MAJOR CHANGES OR CONCERNS THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD. LATEST GFS TRIES TO DEVELOP A SFC LOW OVER THE SE U.S. ON THURS...WHICH STRENGTHENS GRAD OVER THE NE GULF TO 15-20 KTS. TOO EARLY TO GO WITH THIS SOLUTION. GENERALLY SW FLOW FROM TARPON NORTH SHOULD KEEP BEST CONVECTION TO LATE NIGHT THROUGH EARLY AFTN. PRELIM #S: BKV 071/090 072/089 3635 TPA 074/089 076/089 3635 GIF 074/091 075/090 4736 SRQ 073/089 075/088 3635 FMY 074/090 075/090 4736= .TBW...NONE. MORALES/CLOSE
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-021600- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: THIS AFTERNOON... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE ALONG THE SEABREEZE EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND FURTHER INLAND LATER. 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. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO RELAY ANY REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NWS OFFICE IN RUSKIN.
FLZ050-021900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 219 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT PINELLAS COUNTY...A THUNDERSTORM STATIONARY...WILL AFFECT HIGHPOINT...CLEARWATER AND LARGO...UNTIL 300 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. MINOR DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER IS EXPECTED. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. JILLSON
FLZ052-022100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 412 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT POLK COUNTY... A THUNDERSTORM...MOVING WEST AT 10 MPH...WILL AFFECT RURAL NORTHERN POLK COUNTY AND POLK CITY...UNTIL 500 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. SOME DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER IS EXPECTED. RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL OCCUR. MOTORISTS CAN EXPECT PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS...AND MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. JILLSON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained SKYWARN Spotter reported nickel size hail at the intersection of North Tampa Street and West Columbus Drive.
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: 5377484.