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 Jul 12, 12:10 PM EST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 110 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003 CURRENTLY...MID CLOUDS CONTINUE TO SLOWLY BURN OFF. ONLY REAL CONVECTION IS OVER LEVY COUNTY...AIDED BY STRONGER HEATING AND PRESENCE OF BOUNDARY OVER THE GULF. PLENTY UNSTABLE...SO STILL EXPECT SHOWERS AND TSTMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS REST OF THE FA LATER THIS AFTN AS HEATING SLOWLY GETS STRONGER. --SHORT TERM-- VERY LITTLE CHANGE IN THE OVERALL PATTERN THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. WEAK UPPER TROFINESS CONTINUES OVER THE EASTERN U.S. WITH A WEAK DEEP LAYER RIDGE AXIS OVER THE NCENT PENIN. HAVE BEEN SKEPTICAL OF MODELS KEEPING LIGHT SE LOW LEVEL FLOW ACROSS THE FA GIVEN UPPER TROF AXIS SO CLOSE TO THE NORTH...BUT EACH DAY HAS VERIFIED WITH GENERALLY WEAK SE SFC FLOW. THUS...WILL CONTINUE WITH LIGHT SE LOW LEVEL FLOW BECOMING ONSHORE NEAR THE COAST IN THE AFTN. TOUGH TO PICK WHERE BEST CONVERGENCE FOR CONVECTION WILL BE GIVEN HOW LIGHT THE FLOW IS. SO WILL KEEP UNIFORM 40-50% AFTN AND EVENING POPS. --EXTENDED--(TUE-SAT) LATEST GFS SOLUTION KEEPS DEEP SE FLOW OVER THE AREA THRU THE PERIOD KEEPING TEMPS AND POPS NEAR CLIMO WITH LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING SEABREEZE CONVECTION. SOLUTION SUGGESTING EASTERLY WAVE TO MOVE FROM THE NW CARIB INTO THE SOUTHERN THEN SW GULF BY LATE WEEK/NEXT WEEKEND WITH LITTLE EFFECT ON OUR AREA. --MARINE-- NO MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE SWELL POTENTIAL FROM CLAUDETTE WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED...BUT DIRECTION OF FETCH FROM THE STORM TOWARD OUR COAST IS NOT VERY GOOD...GIVEN STORM MOVING AWAY TOWARD THE NW AND NOT STRENGTHENING AT THIS TIME. PRELIM #S: BKV 072/090 071/091 2535 TPA 077/090 076/090 2535 GIF 077/092 076/091 3535 SRQ 076/090 075/090 2435 FMY 076/091 075/091 3535= .TBW...NONE MORALES/DAVIS
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-121500- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 535 AM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE GULF COAST SEA BREEZE...AND AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAND AND WATER BREEZES AROUND TAMPA BAY...BETWEEN NOON AND 2 PM. THE INITIAL ACTIVITY WILL AFFECT COASTAL COUNTIES. AFTER 2 PM...ADDITIONAL STORMS WILL DEVELOP...ACROSS BOTH COASTAL AND INLAND LOCATIONS. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE BEYOND SUNSET THIS EVENING. MOST STORMS WILL CONTAIN OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...A BRIEF DOWNPOUR...AND WIND GUSTS TO 25 MPH. STRONGER CELLS WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAINS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING URBAN FLOODING IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. ONE OR TWO STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WIND THE PRIMARY THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: AMPLE MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE THE LIKELIHOOD OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES CROSSING THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO MAY ENHANCE LOCAL RAINFALL...AND ALLOW ONE OR TWO STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE...EACH AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW BSG
FLZ042-121945- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 302 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CITRUS COUNTY... THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5 TO 10 MPH...WILL AFFECT LECANTO AND BEVERLY HILLS...UNTIL 345 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. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. JILLSON
FLZ042-121930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 317 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003 ...FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE POSSIBLE IN NORTHERN CITRUS COUNTY... LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR LECANTO AROUND 3:05 PM. THE FUNNEL CLOUD HAS SINCE DISSIPATED. FUNNEL CLOUDS CAN BECOME BRIEF...SMALL...BUT DANGEROUS TORNADOES. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY...AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. && LAT...LON 2895 8258 2882 8243 2907 8212 2923 8230
FLZ055-060-122200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 506 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHERN SARASOTA AND SOUTHERN MANATEE COUNTIES... THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH...WILL AFFECT RURAL NORTHERN SARASOTA COUNTY AND RURAL SOUTHERN MANATEE COUNTY...UNTIL 600 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 45 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE PEA SIZE HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. JILLSON
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:04 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started a mobile home on fire and the home burned to the ground. A man was sleeping inside at the time but an alert neighbor pounded on the walls and doors until the man exited the burning home.
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, July 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: 5366687.