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 7, 1:22 PM EST, 5 hours 38 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 222 PM EDT TUE OCT 7 2003 CURRENTLY...PARTLY SUNNY SKIES ACROSS THE REGION WITH A GENERAL SOUTHEAST FLOW AT 5 TO 10 MPH. WEST COAST SEA BREEZE BEGINNING TO MOVE INLAND FROM TAMPA BAY NORTH...BUT STILL PINNED ALONG THE COAST SOUTH OF TAMPA BAY. EXPECT A FEW SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM ALONG SEA BREEZE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING... ESPECIALLY FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA NORTHWARD. SHORT TERM (TNGT-THU)...A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST U.S. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS CONTINUING THE THREAT OF A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. THERE WILL STILL BE NO REAL FOCUSING MECHANISM...EXCEPT FOR THE SEA BREEZES SO DONT EXPECT MUCH MORE THAN ISOLATED TO LOW SCATTERED POPS AT THIS TIME...WITH BEST CHANCES BEING ACROSS THE NORTH CLOSER TO THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL AND HAVE GENERALLY GONE WITH PERSISTENCE FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS. EXTENDED (THU NGT-TUE)...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE ATLANTIC WILL MAINTAIN A GENERAL NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE CWA AS A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES SWING THROUGH THE BASE OF A LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN U.S. THE BULK OF THE ENERGY WILL STAY UP OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES WITH ONLY ISOLATED POPS IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST. THIS PATTERN CONTINUES INTO THE WEEKEND BUT THEN BEGINS TO CHANGE AS THE LONG WAVE TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE EAST COAST WITH A FRONT PUSHING INTO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE MON AND THEN SLIDING INTO NORTH CENTRAL FL TUE. TEMPERATURES AT OR JUST ABOVE CLIMO FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD BUT THEN DIPPING TO JUST BELOW BY THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. WILL NOT GO QUITE AS LOW AS MEX NUMBERS INDICATE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME AND WILL WAIT AND SEE IF TREND CONTINUES WITH LATER MODEL RUNS. MARINE...GENERAL SOUTHEAST FLOW THIS AFTERNOON WILL BECOME EAST OVERNIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY AND THEN SHIFT TO MORE NORTHEASTERLY. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN 15 KNOTS OR LESS SO NO FLAGS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. FIRE WEATHER...NO HIGHLIGHTS. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS: TPA 072/088 072/088 1222 FMY 071/089 071/089 1222 GIF 070/088 070/088 1222 SRQ 070/088 070/088 1222 BKV 066/087 066/087 3322 .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. PRC/RKR
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-081500- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EDT TUE OCT 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL CAUSE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE BEST CHANCE WILL BE NORTH OF TAMPA BAY ALONG THE SEA BREEZE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT LIGHTNING... LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN EXCESS 2 INCHES...GUSTY WINDS ABOVE 40 MPH... AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEK...BECOMING SCATTERED INTO THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. FOR MORE INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)
FLZ052-080000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 723 PM EDT TUE OCT 7 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHERN AND CENTRAL POLK COUNTY... A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING EAST AND SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH...WILL AFFECT POLK CITY...GIBSONIA...LAKELAND...LOUGHMAN...AUBURNDALE... HAINES CITY...AND WINTER HAVEN THROUGH 800 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. EXCESSIVE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED IF OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. IF INDOORS...REFRAIN FROM USING ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES. RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL OCCUR. MOTORISTS CAN EXPECT PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS...AND MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. MCMICHAEL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A local utility company reported numerous trees and power lines downed by strong thunderstorm winds.
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: 5336882.