1 tornado, 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 27, 2:13 PM EST, 17 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 213 PM EST THU MAR 27 2003 ONGOING SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS FROM THROUGHOUT THE FA WILL KEEP THIS DISCUSSION SHORT. UPPER SYSTEM CONTINUES TO PULL ENEWD FROM THE N CNTRL GOMEX WITH THE TROUGH AXIS OFF THE NE FL COAST BY FRIDAY MORNING. IN THE INTERIM... ONGOING NUMEROUS SHWRS AND TSTMS WILL GRADUALLY MOVE EWD BUT WILL HOLD ONTO SOME LOWER THRESHOLD 30-40 POP INTO THE EVENING HOURS EARLY TONIGHT UNTIL CONVECTION EXITS AREA. ALSO CAN NOT RULE OUT SOME LINGERING CONVECTION...PARTICULARLY OVER THE NRN FA...DUE TO THE UNSTABLE COOL POOL ALOFT CONDITIONS BENEATH THE UPPER LOW AS IT PROGRESS EWD. OTHERWISE EXPECT GRADUALLY CLEARING SKIES LATER NIGHT ...BUT WITH SOME PATCHY LATE NIGHT FOG...NOTABLY OVER THE NRN FA. MUCH IMPROVED CONDITIONS EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH CONSIDERABLE SUNSHINE AND NEAR NIL PREMISE FOR PCPN. EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDINESS SATURDAY NIGHT DUE TO THE APPROACH OF A STRONG COLD FRONT ACCOMPANNIED WITH SHOWERS AND TSTMS TO PUSH THROUGH THE PNSULA ON SUNDAY. A MUCH COOLER AIR MASS FOR EARLY SPRING TO FOLLOW THIS FRONT WITH CLEARING SKIES BUT A RETURN OF A CHILL IN THE AIR SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY WEEK...PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT. MORE ON THIS IN FUTURE DISCUSSIONS. .MARINE...NO SIGNIFICANT WINDS EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY BUT WINDS AND SEAS WILL INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH AND FOLLOWING THE FRONTAL PASSAGE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY BEFORE DECREASING TUESDAY. PRELIM NUMBERS... BKV UU 060/085 057/085 064 10300 TPA UU 067/084 067/084 068 10300 GIF UU 066/087 065/088 065 10400 SRQ UU 078/067 082/064 082 10200 FMY UU 067/087 066/087 068 10300= .TBW...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 5PM. DMR/DN
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-271600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 520 AM EST THU MAR 27 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: ...ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. CONDITIONS WILL BECOME FAVORABLE FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES CLOSER TO THE AREA. FOR THIS MORNING...ONLY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. BY EARLY AFTERNOON...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND STRENGTH... ESPECIALLY OVER INTERIOR LOCATIONS...WITH SOME STORMS BECOMING STRONG TO SEVERE. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE TOWARD THE NORTHEAST TODAY AT 10 TO 15 MPH. THE MAIN THREATS FROM ANY STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES. REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: ...MORE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATER THIS WEEKEND... ANOTHER STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST ON SUNDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG STORMS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR FORECASTS AND STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS CONCERNING THE THREAT FOR STRONG STORMS LATER THIS WEEKEND. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON...AND AGAIN ON SUNDAY. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW MORALES
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
154 PM EST THU MAR 27 2003
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1050 AM 2 S PUNTA GORDA FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 CHARLOTTE REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
1217 PM 1 S TEMPLE TERRACE FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 HILLSBOROUGH REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
1254 PM MORRISTON FL WATERSPOUT
03/27/03 LEVY REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
1254 PM MORRISTON FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 LEVY REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
227 PM EST THU MAR 27 2003
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0110 PM TEMPLE TERRACE FL 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 HILLSBOROUGH USF CAMPUS REPORTED BY
MEDIA.
0130 PM WESLEY CHAPEL FL 1.50 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 PASCO REPORTED BY MEDIA.
0143 PM CAPE CORAL FL URBAN FLOOD
03/27/03 LEE REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
0120 PM TAMPA PALMS FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 HILLSBOROUGH REPORTED BY MEDIA.
0131 PM WESLEY CHAPEL FL 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 PASCO REPORTED BY MEDIA.
0200 PM CRYSTAL RIVER FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 CITRUS REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0206 PM 2 N CRYSTAL RIVER FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 CITRUS REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0208 PM 2 SE BROOKSVILLE FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 HERNANDO REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0221 PM LAND O LAKES FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 PASCO REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR.
0218 PM 5 SE INVERNESS FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 CITRUS REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0224 PM BROOKSVILLE FL .75 INCH HAIL
03/27/03 HERNANDO REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.The Miami radar (KAMX), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:30 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado crossed Interstate 75 between mile marker 120-123 which is just north of the Lee/Collier county line. The tornado was caught on film and played on several local and national networks. Minimal debris was associated with the tornado as it passed through uninhabited areas of Lee county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2003Warnings 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: 5343575.