1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Mar 17, 1:40 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 140 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 CURRENTLY...SQUALLINE OVER THE CENT GULF ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LOW OVER MS/AL CONTINUES TO MOVE ESE. LATEST TREND SHOWS THAT THE NORTHERN PART OF LINE IS WEAKENING WHILE THE SOUTHERN END CONTINUE STRONG OVER THE WARMER LOOP CURRENT. LESS ORGANIZED CONVECTION NOW DEVELOPING WELL SE OF MAIN LINE OVER THE SE GULF WATERS. BKN CU DEVELOPING ACROSS LAND PORTION OF FA...EXCEPT IMMEDIATE COAST...WITH SCT SHOWERS AROUND THE TAMPA BAY REGION...EXPANDING RAPIDLY. --SHORT TERM (TUES-THURS)-- MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT NEXT FEW DAYS. UPPER LOW OVER THE GULF STATES TODAY WILL WEAKEN AS IT EJECTS NE TONIGHT. EXPECT SCT SHOWERS/TSTMS STILL TO DEVELOP THIS AFTN...ESPEC INTERIOR COUNTIES DUE TO SW LOW LEVEL FLOW. TONIGHT...WITH LOSS OF UPPER ENERGY AND HEATING...CONVECTION SHOULD DIE QUICKLY THIS EVENING. WITH LIGHT SW LOW LEVEL FLOW...MIN TEMPS WILL CONTINUE WILL ABOVE NORM...ESPEC COASTAL AREAS. COULD SEE NEAR RECORD HIGH MIN LEVELS. TUE...WEAK UPPER RIDGE FORMS OVER THE FA WITH A DECREASE IN DEEP LAYER MOISTURE...THEN THE UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS JUST E OF THE FA WED AND THURS AS THE NEXT UPPER TROF MOVES INTO THE CENT U.S. CURRENT FCST HAS ISOLD POPS MAINLY INTERIOR TUE-THURS. STILL DECIDING IF WORTH KEEPING IN FCST. LOW LEVEL FLOW EXPECTED TO BE SW TUE THEN...THEN MORE SOUTHERLY WED AND THURS. THIS SHOULD KEEP RELATIVELY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS IN PLACE. COOLEST MAXES WILL BE RIGHT AT THE COAST...ESPEC TUE WITH ONSHORE FLOW. --EXTENDED (FRI-MON)-- NEXT WEAK FRONT AND UPPER TROF MOVES ACROSS THE REGION FRI WITH CHC POPS. CLEARING AND SLIGHTLY COOLER SAT. COULD HAVE SOME LINGERING PRECIP THREAT EARLY SAT OVER THE S FA. CONTINUED DRY SUN WITH NORTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW...BUT TEMPS WILL PROB STILL BE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORM. MON...ANOTHER UPPER TROF AND ASSOCIATED SFC LOW TRY TO MOVE INTO THE N GULF. LATEST RUN OF GFS NOW A BIT SLOWER AND FARTHER N WITH THIS SYSTEM THEN OLD MRF. WILL INTRODUCE CHC POPS FOR NOW. --MARINE-- OTHER THAN THE CONVECTION OVER THE E GULF THIS EVENING...NO PROBLEMS OR HIGHLIGHTS EXPECTED THROUGH MUCH OF WED. WINDS AND SEAS GRADUALLY INCREASE WED NIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRI DUE TO STRENGTHENING GRAD AS SFC LOW MOVES ACROSS THE SE U.S. WILL LIKELY HAVE SCEC CONDITIONS BY THURS. PRELIM #S: BKV 063/084 064/087 1-01 TPA 068/083 068/086 1-01 GIF 065/086 067/088 2102 SRQ 067/084 068/087 1-01 FMY 067/086 069/088 1-11= .TBW...NONE. MORALES
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-171700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 553 AM EST MON MAR 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON...MOSTLY INLAND. LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARD WITH THESE STORMS. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: TEMPERATURES WILL BE VERY WARM TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS. HEAT INDICES WILL REACH THE MID AND UPPER 90S. THIS WILL FEEL VERY WARM CONSIDERING IT IS STILL MID MARCH. .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
FLZ050-051-055-060>062-172200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 306 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE TAMPA BAY AND SARASOTA BRADENTON METRO AREAS FOR THE EARLY EVENING COMMUTE... A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CROSS THE COASTLINE FROM PINELLAS THROUGH CHARLOTTE COUNTIES BETWEEN 330 PM AND 4 PM...AND CONTINUE MOVING ACROSS THE WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST UNTIL 5 PM. STRONGER STORMS WILL AFFECT THE AREA FROM SAINT PETERSBURG THROUGH BRADENTON...SARASOTA...VENICE...NORTH PORT...AND PORT CHARLOTTE. THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAINS REDUCING VISIBILITY BELOW 1 MILE...AND WIND GUSTS OF 30 AND 40 MPH OR MORE. SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. RESIDENTS...ESPECIALLY MOTORISTS...SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR RAPIDLY DETERIORATING WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON. TRAVELERS AND COMMUTERS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRIPS UNTIL THE STORMS PASS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER THIS AFTERNOON. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) BSG
FLZ050-051-055-060-172115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 331 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT SAINT PETERSBURG THROUGH SARASOTA AND BRADENTON BY 4 PM... A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH...WILL AFFECT VENICE...SARASOTA...PALMETTO...BRADENTON...AND SAINT PETERSBURG...UNTIL 415 PM EST. GUSTY WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. MINOR 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. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE PEA SIZE HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. && SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS MAY BE ISSUED BEFORE 415 PM SHOULD CONDITIONS INTENSIFY. GOLDSMITH
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:06 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds downed trees along Fruitville road in Sarasota and caused damage to the roof of a home 4 miles to the east of Sarasota.
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, March 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: 5344196.