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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 25, 1:26 PM EST, 49 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 226 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2003 .DISCUSSION...EAST COAST SEA BREEZE MOVING RAPIDLY INLAND BEING PUSHED BY SYNOPTIC EASTERLY FLOW AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM ONGOING CONVECTION. VIS SAT IMAGERY SHOWS CU NOT WELL DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHERN SECTIONS WHERE DRIER AIR IS IN PLACE BASED ON MIA SOUNDING. PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS FUELING GOOD COVERAGE OF CONVECTION OVER N/C INTERIOR COUNTIES. CONVECTION WILL PUSH WEST OF THE FA EARLY THIS EVENING. SOUTHEAST LOW LEVEL FLOW IS EXPECTED TO BRING ISOLATED COASTAL SHOWERS ONSHORE MAINLY SOUTH OF THE CAPE OVERNIGHT. TUE/WED...ATLANTIC SURFACE RIDGE MAINTAINS A POSITION JUST NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. HIGHEST MOISTURE SINKING TO THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE PENINSULA BY WED. DIRECT ONSHORE FLOW THROUGH A FAIRLY DEEP LAYER WILL LEAD TO MORNING COASTAL SHOWERS ROUGHLY SOUTH OF CAPE CANAVERAL WITH SCT SHOWERS AND STORMS TRANSITIONING INLAND ALONG WITH THE SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY DURING THE AFTERNOON. THU/FRI...AVN FAVORS DEVELOPMENT OF TROPICAL WAVE CURRENTLY OVER THE EASTERN CARIB AND CARRIES A SYS TO BAHAMAS ON THU. OBVIOUSLY FORECAST BECOMES MORE UNCERTAIN AT THIS POINT AS DOMINANT RIDGE IS STILL INDICATED NORTH OF THE STATE. WILL CONTINUE AN EAST FLOW REGIME WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE IN WINDS AT END OF THE WORK WEEK AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS. EXTENDED...EXTENDED PERIOD NEXT WEEK INITIALLY AS UNCERTAIN AS FORECAST AT THE END OF THE WEEK. WITH CLOSED SYSTEM DRIFTING OVER PENINSULA EARLY NEXT WEEK. WILL LEAN CLOSER TO CLIMO RANGE POPS AND TEMPS UNTIL OTHER MODELS BESIDE GFS ADDRESS THIS PERIOD. .MARINE...GENERAL ESE FLOW THROUGH MID WEEK AS RIDGE AXIS BUILDS TO THE NORTH. WILL INCREASE WINDS LATE THIS WEEK TO INCLUDE MENTION OF 15 KT AS GRADIENT FLOW INCREASES AHEAD OF APPROACHING WAVE. ...PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DAB 073/087 074/087 073 13121 MCO 074/090 074/090 074 24231 MLB 075/088 075/088 075 23221 VRB 074/088 076/088 076 23221 44 .MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. SHORT TERM...KELLY LONG TERM...PENDERGRAST
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 252030- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 12 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY: ...SCATTERED STORMS ACROSS THE INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON... SHOWERS AND LIGHTNING STORMS WILL MOVE INLAND ALONG THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON. THE LIGHTNING STORMS WILL MOVE WEST INTO THE INTERIOR DURING THE EARLY AND MID AFTERNOON HOURS...FROM LAKE GEORGE TO METRO ORLANDO TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE. THE GREATER COVERAGE AND HEAVIER RAINS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS OSCEOLA AND OKEECHOBEE COUNTIES WHERE DEEPER MOISTURE PERSISTS. THE MAIN THUNDERSTORM HAZARDS WILL BE LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL THIS AFTERNOON. LOCALIZED FLOODING FROM 1 TO 2 INCH RAINS MAY ALSO OCCUR IN AREAS THAT HAVE RECEIVED HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE PAST WEEK. A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH. MANY AREAS IN NORTHWEST OSCEOLA...WESTERN ORANGE AND SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY ARE SATURATED AND CANNOT HANDLE MUCH MORE RAIN. RETENTION PONDS...CULVERTS AND SWALES IN THESE AREAS ARE FULL OR OVERFLOWING. RESIDENTS OF SHERWOOD FOREST MOBILE HOME PARK NEAR KISSIMMEE ARE UNDER A BOIL WATER ALERT. RESIDENTS IN THIS COMMUNITY SHOULD STAY OUT OF STANDING WATER WHICH MAY CONTAIN SEWAGE...ALLIGATORS AND SNAKES. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. THE WAKE THAT IS PRODUCED CAN UNINTENTIONALLY FLOOD NEARBY HOMES AND BUSINESSES. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN IN THIS AREA WILL QUICKLY AGGRAVATE THE FLOODING. BE READY TO EVACUATE FROM FLOOD PRONE AREAS. LIGHTNING CAN BE DEADLY. IF A STORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA...HEAD INDOORS INTO A STURDY STRUCTURE AWAY FROM WINDOWS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: EASTERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP THIS WEEK ALLOWING A DECREASE IN THE COVERAGE OF STORMS...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST...AS WESTWARD MOVING STORMS CROSS THE INTERIOR TOWARD THE WEST COAST EACH AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY. FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. KELLY
FLZ046-251800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 134 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2003 ...STRONG STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AND EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING OVER SEMINOLE COUNTY... AT 124 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WIND GUSTS OVER WINTER SPRINGS. THE STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY...DRIFTING TO THE WEST TOWARD CASSELBERRY AND ALTAMONTE SPRINGS. VERY HEAVY RAINS PRODUCING ONE TO TWO INCHES MAY CREATE TEMPORARY FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS CELL. IF THE STORM STRENGTHENS FURTHER...A WARNING WILL BE ISSUED. 28
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:14 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Fire from a lightning strike destroyed a church in Deltona. Damage estimates were near $250,000.
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: 5374896.