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 Oct 28, 7:50 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 750 PM EST TUE OCT 28 2003 ...TORNADO WATCH ACROSS PASCO...HERNANDO...CITRUS...SUMTER...AND LEVY COUNTIES UNTIL 1000 PM THIS EVENING... .DISCUSSION...BUSY NIGHT WITH CONVECTION MOVING ASHORE A LITTLE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. SOME SMALL ROTATIONS JUST OFF OF PASCO COUNTY... BUT NOT ENOUGH TO WARRANT A TORNADO WARNING...YET. BIGGER CONCERN LOOKS LIKE THE ACTIVITY MOVING WITHIN OUR SOUTHERN COASTAL WATERS. ALL LIGHTNING STRIKES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM HAVE SHIFTED DOWN THERE. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO MOVE ONSHORE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...AND WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE STRONGER STORMS... AS SOUNDING CAME IN WITH SOME MARGINAL SEVERE WEATHER PARAMETERS. OTHERWISE THE LOW HAS MOVED ASHORE AND IS NORTH OF GNV...MOVING RAPIDLY NE. TRAILING COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH THROUGH THE AREA BY DAYBREAK BRINGING A BRIEF SHOT OF SLIGHTLY COOLER AIR...AND THEN A RIDGE WILL QUICKLY BUILD IN BEHIND IT BRINGING OUR WINDS BACK AROUND TO EASTERLY. WILL KEEP THE SCA AND SCEC UP FOR THE NIGHT...DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE WINDS HAVE DROPPED AROUND CEDAR KEY. THIS HAS BEEN THE TREND WITH THE FRONT HOWEVER...WINDS DROP OFF AND THEN PICK AGAIN AFTER PASSAGE...WINDS AT THE BUOY HAVE RETURNED UP TO 20 KTS. EXPECT TO DROP ADVISORIES BY MORNING HOWEVER. .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM ENGLEWOOD TO SUWANNEE RIVER INCLUDING TAMPA BAY THROUGH TONIGHT. SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD THROUGH TONIGHT. RJS
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-281500- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EST TUE OCT 28 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARDS NORTH FLORIDA TODAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS THIS LOW INTENSIFIES. A COLD FRONT WILL EXTEND SOUTHWEST FROM THIS LOW PRESSURE AREA...CROSSING CENTRAL AND SOUTH FLORIDA TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE GULF WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL FLORIDA TODAY..AND THEN CENTRAL AND SOUTH FLORIDA TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. ABUNDANT CLOUD COVER...DEEP MOISTURE AND WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT SHOULD PREVENT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FORMATION...HOWEVER SOME STORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME STRONG WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS UP TO 45 MPH BEING THE MAIN THREAT. IN ADDITION...ISOLATED WATERSPOUTS AND SHORT LIVED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. ALL THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN ORGANIZED LINES...LEADING TO PROLONGED HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS IN SOME LOCATIONS. RESIDENTS OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES TODAY SHOULD STAY ALERT AND CLOSELY MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. BE PREPARED TO MOVE INDOORS IF WEATHER CONDITIONS DETERIORATE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY: THE COLD FRONT WILL CLEAR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WEDNESDAY MORNING...BUT A FEW STRONG STORMS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE EARLY OVER CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTY. SKIES WILL CLEAR WEDNESDAY BEHIND THE FRONT WITH NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AFTER THAT THROUGH MONDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY. EJ
FLZ039-042-048-049-290100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 718 PM EST TUE OCT 28 2003 ...STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT COASTAL AREAS... A LINE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH...WILL AFFECT AREAS FROM YANKEETOWN...SOUTH TO NEAR HUDSON... UNTIL 800 PM EST. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. SOME DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED.
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:02 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds created minor damage to two homes, two barns, and downed trees and power lines.
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, October 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: 5336883.