Name: Flood in Florida, August 5 to 31, 2003
Start: 2003-08-05T22:45
End: 2003-08-31T23:59
Location: Florida

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 5, 7:48 PM EST, 2 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 7:48 PM EST, 2 hours 57 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
848 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

DIURNAL ACTIVITY HAS MOVED EAST OF THE FA WITH ONLY ISOLATED COASTAL
SHOWERS LEFT BEHIND. I WILL DROP THE OVERNIGHT POPS ACCORDINGLY TO
20 PERCENT ALONG THE COAST AND NOTHING INLAND. CLOUDS SHOULD ALSO
BEGIN TO THIN OUT. PARTLY CLOUDY LOOKS GOOD.

MARINE: LIGHT WINDS CONTINUE. NO CHANGES.

.TBW...NONE.

ALSHEIMER

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 5, 4:40 AM EST, 18 hours 5 minutes before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-051500-

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL FL
540 AM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

THIS MORNING:  ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ONTO THE
IMMEDIATE SUNCOAST BY 8 AM...THEN CONTINUE MOVING SLOWLY INLAND
THROUGH THE COASTAL COUNTIES BEFORE NOON.  THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN
OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND A BRIEF DOWNPOUR.  ONE OR
TWO WATERSPOUTS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE STORMS APPROACH THE COAST.

THIS AFTERNOON:  SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER
INTERIOR WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA...MAINLY 30 MILES OR MORE FROM THE
IMMEDIATE COAST.  THE MAIN THREAT FROM STRONGER CELLS WILL BE
TORRENTIAL RAINS CAUSING MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AND LOW
LYING AREAS.   THESE STORMS MAY DROP 3 INCHES OR MORE OF RAIN.
OTHER THREATS WILL INCLUDE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND
WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY:

SOUTHWEST STEERING FLOW WILL PREVAIL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK...
AND A FAIRLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MAY INDUCE LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL ACROSS THE NATURE COAST.

FOR WEDNESDAY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP JUST BEFORE
DAYBREAK NEAR THE COAST...BECOMING MORE NUMEROUS AS THEY PUSH
INLAND BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP JUST NORTH OF THE STATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...INCREASING THE CHANCE FOR MORE
WIDESPREAD LATE NIGHT THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY FROM TAMPA BAY NORTHWARD.   SLIGHTLY DRIER
AIR MAY APPROACH FOR THE WEEKEND...REDUCING THE COVERAGE OF
PRECIPITATION.

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIAL HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT LATER
THIS WEEK.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

AREA WIDE SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY.  HOWEVER...
INDIVIDUAL SPOTTERS SHOULD BE READY TO PROVIDE LOCAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER INFORMATION...PARTICULARLY RAINFALL REPORTS...THIS
AFTERNOON.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)

BSG

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Sarasota

When: August 5, 10:45 PM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Sarasota forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

The Myakka River at Myakka State Park crested at 10.02 feet at 5:00 AM EST on the 13th. Flood stage is 7 feet.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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: 5368339.