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 May 19, 11:56 AM EST, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1256 PM EDT MON MAY 19 2003 THE UPPER LOW EFFECTING OUR WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TO SINK SOUTH TO NEAR THE YUCATAN AND BECOME DIFFUSE. IN ITS WAKE A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF OF A DEEP UPPER LOW NEAR BERMUDA A RIDGE AXIS ALONG THE U.S. EAST COAST AND A WEAK DIGGING TROUGH NEAR THE GREAT LAKES. THE TROUGH OVER THE GREAT LAKES EVENTUALLY DIGS IN ALONG THE EAST COAST AND BECOMES THE DOMINANT FEATURE. FOR THE SHORT TERM WE STAY IN LOW LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW AND A SUMMER LIKE PATTERN. THE UPPER LOW WILL HAVE A DECREASING INFLUENCE ON OUR WEATHER HENCE THE POPS WILL BE DECREASING DAILY THROUGH MIDWEEK. BUT THERE WILL BE ADEQUATE INSTABILITY AND PLENTY OF MOISTURE FOR SUMMER LIKE AFTERNOON CONVECTION. .EXTENDED(THU-MON)...UPPER LOW OVER THE ATLANTIC SLIDES EAST AS FRONTAL SYSTEM LINGERS OVER THE EASTERN SEA BOARD AND THE GULF COAST INTO EARLY FRIDAY...WHEN GFS/MRF FORMS A SURFACE LOW ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES AS UPPER TROUGH DROPS INTO THE MID MISS VALLEY AND THEN DEEPENS AS IT MOVES EAST. THE SURFACE LOW MOVES NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST COAST AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE STATE AND HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE GULF REGION. WITH SOME UNCERTAINTY IN THE MODELS WILL MAINTAIN THE CURRENT TREND IN THE EXTENDED. SCT PCPN INTO FRIDAY AND THEN DECREASING BACK TO AFTERNOON/EVENING TIMING FOR THE WEEKEND AND THEN SOME CLEARING MONDAY. THERE ARE NO MARINE AND OR FIRE WEATHER ISSUES. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS TPA 074/089 073/090 4544 FMY 072/091 071/091 4544 GIF 072/092 071/091 2524 SRQ 074/087 072/088 4544 BKV 069/090 069/090 4544 .TBW...NONE. SOBIEN/RUDE
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-191530- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 535 AM EDT MON MAY 19 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... A WARM AND HUMID AIR MASS OVER FLORIDA WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AS TEMPERATURES RISE TO NEAR 90. LATE DAY SEA BREEZES WILL HELP FORM THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE BEST CHANCES WILL BE BETWEEN 3 PM AND 10 PM. DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE MAIN THREATS WITH ANY STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE TODAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR THROUGH THE WEEK. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
313 PM EDT MON MAY 19 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0202 PM LUTZ FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/19/03 HILLSBOROUGH REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
BSGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
313 PM EDT MON MAY 19 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0302 PM LUTZ FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/19/03 HILLSBOROUGH REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
...CORRECTED FOR EVENT TIME...
BSGThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:16 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the home of a 72 year old woman and caused a fire that took fire fighters 15 minutes to put out.
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, May 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: 5357795.