Florida, 2003

Tornado in Florida, June 18, 2003

June 18, 2003 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
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 Jun 18, 8:35 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 8:35 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
935 AM EDT WED JUN 18 2003

NO MAJOR CHANGES PLANNED FOR MORNING UPDATE. WILL ADJUST WORDING FOR
THE REST OF TODAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE
MOVING NORTHWARD THROUGH THE COASTAL WATERS...WITH SOME OF THEM
MOVING ONSHORE BEFORE DISSIPATING IN THE STABLE AIR OVER LAND.
EXTENSIVE MID-LEVEL DEBRIS FROM CONVECTION OVER COASTAL WATERS MAY
LIMIT AFTERNOON HEATING...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE COAST. THIS COULD
RESULT IN AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER INLAND LOCATIONS
RATHER THAN ALONG THE COAST.

QUICK LOOK AT 12Z SOUNDING SHOWS 2.2 INCHES OF PW AND A BIT MORE
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW BELOW 500 MB THAN MODELS INDICATED. STILL...
CANT RULE OUT AFTERNOON OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES MAKING AT LEAST SOME
WESTWARD PROGRESS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING.

.TBW...NONE.

EJ
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 18, 5:00 AM EST, 7 hours 13 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-181445-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
600 AM EDT WED JUN 18 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:
A MOIST TROPICAL AIR MASS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
WILL HELP TO FUEL SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS. SOME STORMS
MAY DRIFT ONSHORE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...
HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM AND BECOME NUMEROUS IN THE AFTERNOON
AND THEN CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERATE GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35
MPH...DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING LIGHTNING...AND TEMPORARY DOWNPOURS
WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY:
THE MOIST TROPICAL AIR MASS WILL CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY WITH
THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA.
SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY WILL SEE A RETURN TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON
STORMS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Manatee

When
June 18, 12:13 PM EST to 12:18 PM EST
Where
Manatee County, 1 mi N of Palmetto
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
40 yd
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
27.533, -82.583

Thunderstorms moved in from the Gulf of Mexico over an extended period of time causing a waterspout four miles west of Longboat Pass and a brief tornado in Palmetto. The tornado damage consisted mostly of car port damage in a mobile home park near 33rd St W and 8th Ave W, and roof damage to a canning factory on the 3600 block of U.S. Highway 41 North. Visual confirmation of the tornado was obtained from a Captain of the local fire district.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2003Warnings in Florida, June 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: 5366538.