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 23, 3:48 AM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 448 AM EDT FRI MAY 23 2003 ONE VORT LOBE IS EXITING THE REGION...ANOTHER TO OUR WEST IS KICKING OFF ACTIVITY NEAR THE BIG BEND. WITH THE SHORT WAVE AND THE FRONT STALLED OVER NORTH FLORIDA I SEE NO REASON TO CHANGE THE HIGH POPS THAT WE HAVE IN THE FORECAST FOR TODAY. IN FACT THE LONG WAVE TROUGH RE-DIGS INTO THE EASTERN GULF AS A SERIES OF WEAK SHORT WAVES DIG DOWN THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE TROUGH. THE TROUGH LOOKS FAIRLY WEAK AS THERE ARE NO DIGGING JETS BUT THEN AGAIN THERE IS NO JET LIFTING IT OUT. BUT IT IS STILL POTENT ENOUGH THAT I WILL INCREASE POPS A LITTLE FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY INLAND AND IN THE SOUTH. FOR NOW I WILL LEAVE SUNDAY WITH ISOLATED POPS. THERE WILL BE ENOUGH DRYING ALOFT STARTING SATURDAY IN THE NORTH AND MAKING IT TO THE SOUTH ON SUNDAY TO GO WITH THE LOWER POP. THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL BE CLOUD FREE...IN FACT THERE WILL BE CONSIDERABLE CIRRUS AROUND EVEN IN THE NORTH OF SATURDAY. SUNDAY WILL START TO CLEAR OUT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE PRETTY TYPICAL FOR MID MAY. LIGHT WINDS AND AREAS OF RAIN TODAY WILL KEEP ANY MARINE OR FIRE WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS AT BAY. EXTENDED FORECAST MON-THURS... CONTINUED BROAD UPPER LVL TROUGH PATTERN WILL PREVAIL OVER THE SE U.S. AND THE GOMEX. FOR THE IMTERIM...WILL SUSTAIN ONLY LOWER THRESHOLD 10-30 POPS FOR THE FA THROUGH THE WEEK WITH THE HIGHER POPS FAVORING THE INLAND AREAS. HOWEVER THIS MRNGS NEW MRF MODEL IMPLIES A WEAK COOL FRONT WITH BETTER PCPN CHANCES TO SAG SWD INTO NRN FL TUESDAY...SLOWLY SWD INTO THE CENTRAL PNSULA WED...PSBLY EXITING THE S PNSULA THURS. WILL SEE LATER MODEL RUNS FOR CONFIDENCE IN THIS PROG BEFORE ALTERING THE EXTENDED FCST. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS TPA 085/074 088/075 8220 FMY 088/073 090/075 8330 GIF 085/072 090/074 8230 SRQ 085/075 086/075 8220 BKV 086/072 089/069 8200 .TBW...NONE. SOBIEN/DMR
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-231500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 443 AM EDT FRI MAY 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COMBINED WITH A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. MANY AREAS WILL SEE WELL OVER AN INCH OF RAIN...BUT ONLY LOCALIZED URBAN STREET FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MAINLY OVER COASTAL AREAS IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...BUT WILL DEVELOP INLAND BY MID MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER INLAND AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. WHEN SKIES DARKEN...MOVE INDOORS. IF THERE IS TIME...UNPLUG APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. WAIT UNTIL THE STORM ENDS BEFORE USING THE TELEPHONE OR RUNNING WATER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT NEEDED
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:38 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started a small fire in the kitchen of a home in the 900 block of South Nokomis Avenue Friday morning. The lightning hit the ground out back, ran through the water line to a PVC pipe in the wall and caught the insulation on fire.
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: 5358266.