1 flash flood, 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 8, 12:58 PM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
158 PM EDT FRI AUG 8 2003
CURRENTLY/TONIGHT...ENHANCED LARGE SCALE ASCENT FROM SHORT WAVE
ENERGY AND DIVERGENT FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD AREAS
OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON...WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE RULE OVERNIGHT...AND
WILL WORD FOR SCATTERED POPS IN MOST ZONES...WITH THE MENTION OF
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS.
SHORT TERM(SAT-SUN)...MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH
SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES THIS AFTERNOON...HOWEVER THEY DIFFER A BIT
WITH REGARD TO THE PLACEMENT OF THE DEEP LAYERED MOISTURE AXIS. THE
GFS KEEPS THIS AXIS PARKED ACROSS THE N-CENTRAL PENINSULA...WHILE THE
ETA TRYS TO SHIFT IT SOUTH SOME BY SUNDAY. GIVEN THE SUBTLE
DIFFERENCES IN THE MODELS PREFER TO KEEP LIKELY POPS IN PLACE FOR ALL
ZONES FOR BOTH DAYS...TAPERING BACK TO THE SCATTERED RANGE EACH
NIGHT. WITH MANY AREA RIVERS ALREADY IN FLOOD AND OTHER ON THE
RISE...AND THE THREAT OF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN ON THE WAY...HAVE
DECIDED TO EXTEND THE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY FOR MY NORTHERN
ZONES AND HAVE EXPANDED THIS WATCH SOUTH TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF MY
CENTRAL ZONES AS WELL. GUIDANCE MAX TEMPS CONTINUE TO LOOK A BIT HIGH
GIVEN THE EXPECTED CLOUDS AND PRECIP...SO WILL CONTINUE TO UNDERCUT
BY A FEW DEGREES IN MOST AREAS.
EXTENDED...(MON-FRI)...WE ARE LOOKING AT A MORE TYPICAL AUGUST TYPE
PATTERN NEXT WEEK. THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL BUILD INTO THE BERMUDA
TO THE CAROLINA AREA KEEPING US IN GENERALLY DEEP LAYER EASTERLY
FLOW. WE WILL SEE GENERALLY AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER LAND AREAS
WITH EVENING AND OVERNIGHT CONVECTION OFFSHORE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE
SEASONAL. WE WILL SEABREEZE EACH DAY...ALTHOUGH IT MAY HAVE TROUBLE
MAKING IT VERY FAR INLAND IN THE FT MYERS AREA ON THURSDAY WHERE THE
GRADIENT WILL BE A LITTLE TIGHTER.
MARINE...SOUTHWEST WIND FLOW TO PERSIST OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WEAKENING GRADIENT SHOULD SUPPORT WINDS IN THE
10-15 KNOT RANGE WITH WAVE WATCH MODEL DEPICTING SEAS OF 2-3 FEET.
BY MONDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH MID WEEK UPPER AND SFC RIDGE BUILDS
IN FROM THE SOUTHEAST. THIS WILL RESULT IN AN E-SELY WIND FLOW WITH
AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES DEVELOPING ALONG THE COAST EACH AFTERNOON. NO
HIGHLIGHTS EXPECTED.
FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS.
THANKS FOR COORD KMLB/KJAX.
PRELIMINARY #S
BKV 074/086 074/086 4746
TPA 076/086 076/087 4746
SRQ 075/085 074/086 4746
GIF 075/087 075/088 4746
FMY 075/087 075/089 4746
.TBW...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY FOR LEVY...CITRUS...SUMTER...
HERNANDO...PASCO...HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...MANATEE...
POLK...SARASOTA...HARDEE...AND DESOTO COUNTIES.
JCM/DSFLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-081400- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL FL 515 AM EDT FRI AUG 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT: ...A FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES TODAY FOR PASCO...HERNANDO...CITRUS... SUMTER AND LEVY COUNTIES... THE COMBINATION OF UPPER LEVEL ENERGY AND DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL HELP TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AGAIN TODAY...ESPECIALLY FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA NORTHWARD. MOST LOCATIONS CAN EXPECT TO RECEIVE ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAINFALL BY THE END OF THE DAY...WITH LOCALIZED AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA NORTHWARD. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF WATERS AND THE COASTAL COUNTIES THIS MORNING...WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS BY THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY INLAND AND OVER THE INTERIOR COUNTIES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE GENERALLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH. HOWEVER...RAINFALL MAY APPEAR TO BE NEARLY STATIONARY AT TIMES AS NEW STORMS REFORM OVER THE SAME AREA...INCREASING THE THREAT FOR LOCALIZED FLOODING. ALTHOUGH THE MAIN THREAT TODAY WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL... REMEMBER ALL THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. MANY RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE ALREADY FLOODING NORTH OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA. RESIDENTS LIVING NEAR RIVERS...STREAMS OR CREEKS FARTHER SOUTH OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SHOULD ALSO BE PREPARED FOR RISING WATER DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: ...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND... CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION FOR SATURDAY...AND POSSIBLY INTO SUNDAY. BY MONDAY...HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BUILDING BACK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN REGION...THEN FARTHER NORTH ACROSS THE CENTRAL AREA BY LATER TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN RETURNING BACK TOWARD THE MORE NORMAL AFTERNOON AND EVENING TIME FRAME BY TUESDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FROM TAMPA BAY NORTH TODAY... PRIMARILY FOR RAINFALL AND LOCAL OVERLAND OR RIVER FLOOD REPORTS. RFM
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:12 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Three to five inches of rain in 80 minutes caused one foot of water to enter some Sarasota businesses on 17th Street between Euclid and Mango Avenues. The listed damage amount does not include inventory. Numerous vehicles were abandoned in the area due to the high water.
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: 5368344.