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 29, 1:09 PM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 209 PM EDT FRI AUG 29 2003 CORRECTED TO INCLUDE PRELIM NUMBERS .CURRENTLY...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ON SCHEDULE WITH ACTIVITY JUST ENTERING OUR EASTERN COUNTIES FROM THE EAST. A FEW SHOWERS HAVE ALSO DEVELOPED WITH AFTERNOON HEATING IN MANATEE COUNTY. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE OF A WEAK SEA BREEZE FORMING FROM ABOUT HERNANDO NORTH. SHORT TERM (TON-SUN)...SHORT TERM NOT LOOKING TOO BAD...WITH SOME DRIER AIR CLEARLY VISIBLE ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY BUILDING IN FROM THE EAST. MORNING SOUNDINGS STILL OVER 2 INCHES FOR PWS BUT EXPECT TO SEE THAT COME DOWN GRADUALLY TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. ETA LOOKS EXCESSIVELY DRY AND HAVE CHOSEN GFS POPS...ALTHOUGH EVEN THOSE LOOK DRY FOR AUGUST. WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS NEXT TWO DAYS...BUT A BIT BELOW CLIMO. HIGH TEMPS COULD BE A DEGREE OR TWO ABOVE CLIMO...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE ENOUGH EASTERLY FLOW NEXT TWO DAYS TO KEEP THINGS MIXED UP. NOT EXPECTING A SEA BREEZE ON THE WEST COAST THIS WEEKEND WITH THE GRADIENT WINDS BETTER THAN 10 KNOTS. A WEAK TROPICAL WAVE MAY PASS SOUTH OF THE REGION LATER SUNDAY...OR MORE LIKELY MONDAY WITH LITTLE IMPACT ON OUR WEATHER. .EXTENDED (MON-FRI)...HIGH MOISTURE VALUES RETURN TO THE AREA BY TUESDAY AS A TROUGH SETS UP ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA LATE NEXT WEEK. WILL CONTINUE TREND TO SHIFT WINDS TO THE SOUTH/SOUTHWEST BEGINNING WEDNESDAY...KEEP POPS AROUND 50 PERCENT...AND KEEP TEMPERATURES NEAR CLIMATOLOGY THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD. .MARINE...GENERALLY EASTERLY WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS AND SEAS 3 FEET OR LESS THROUGH SUNDAY...THEN SOUTHEAST WINDS THEREAFTER AS RIDGE BEGINS TO RETREAT INTO THE ATLANTIC. NO HIGHLIGHTS. PRELIM S TPA BB 074/091 075/090 075 23232 FMY BB 075/091 075/091 074 23242 GIF BB 075/091 075/091 074 13232 SRQ BB 075/091 074/091 075 23232 BKV BB 072/092 072/091 072 23232 .TBW...NONE. EJ/JC
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-291500- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EDT FRI AUG 29 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: A TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE SOUTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO WILL KEEP A MOIST AIRMASS ACROSS THE AREA TODAY WHICH...ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING...WILL PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS WILL BEGIN EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AS THEY MOVE TO THE WEST AND NORTHWEST. THE MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. MANY RIVERS ARE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE...AND ANY ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL AGGRAVATE FLOODING IN THESE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW WILL BECOME MORE EASTERLY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE. THE MAIN CONCERN WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS. SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY. RKR
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:16 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 50 year old male in the Pinellas Bay Way Channel was injured when lightning struck his boat.
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: 5369307.