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 28, 8:30 AM EST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 930 AM EDT MON JUL 28 2003 CURRENT/SHORT TERM...BROAD SURFACE RIDGE OVER THE AREA WITH LITTLE FLOW. SEA BREEZE WILL DEVELOP EARLIER OVER THE NORTH. CONVECTION OVER THE GULF THIS MORNING IS MOVING SOUTH UNDER THE STEERING CURRENTS OF A 700 MB RIDGE TO THE WEST. MODELS SHOW THIS RIDGE MOVING SOUTH OPENING THE DOOR FOR CONVECTION TO MOVE ONSHORE OVER NORTHERN FA DURING THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. MARINE... NO CONCERNS EXCEPT SCATTERED TSTMS. .TBW...NONE. CP
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-281300- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 538 AM EDT MON JUL 28 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AS DAYTIME TEMPERATURES TO 90 OR ABOVE WILL ACT ON A MOIST ATMOSPHERE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ON THE GULF AND EAST COAST SEA BREEZES...WITH ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE IN LOCATIONS WHERE THE BOUNDARIES COLLIDE IN THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL CONTAIN HAIL...HEAVY RAIN IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER. EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED WITH A FEW STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: WINDS WILL VEER TO THE SOUTHWEST BY TUESDAY AS LARGE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES INTO THE EASTERN QUARTER OF THE U.S. THIS WILL BRING LATE MORNING STORMS TO THE COAST AND SCATTERED STORMS IN THE AFTERNOON OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE REMINDED TO RELAY ANY REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NWS OFFICE IN RUSKIN. ALSHEIMER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Three road construction workers were struck by lightning at the corner of U.S. 19 and Drew Street while standing under a large oak tree. All three were transported to a hospital and complained about internal pain, uncontrollable twitching, and numbness.
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: 5366412.