Lightning Strike in Florida, September 20, 2003

Name: Lightning Strike in Florida, September 20, 2003
Start: 2003-09-20T09:50
End: 2003-09-20T09:50
Location: Florida

September 20, 2003 · NWS MLB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 4
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 20, 8:17 AM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 8:17 AM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes before

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
917 AM EDT SAT SEP 20 2003

.DISCUSSION...MOIST ONSHORE FLOW CONTINUES TO PUSH MARINE BASED
SHOWERS WELL INLAND...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES. 915 MHZ
WIND PROFILERS SHOW UNIFORM 15 KT ELY WND UP TO ABT 9K FT.
RELATIVELY BRISK WINDS WILL NOT PRODUCE A DEFINED SEA BREEZE
CIRCULATION WITH SUBSIDENCE ALONG THE COAST...THEREFORE MARINE
SHOWERS SHOULD CONTINUE THEIR ONSHORE MOVEMENT INTO THE AFTERNOON.

CURRENT FORECAST WITH UNIFORM SCT PRECIP COVERAGE IS IN GOOD
SHAPE...HOWEVER CONTINUED CLOUD COVER OVER INTERIOR WILL LIKELY KEEP
TEMPS FROM REACHING 90 DEGREES.

.MARINE...BASED ON CURRENT OBS AND THE 06Z MESOETA...THE ONGOING CWF
IS RIGHT ON TARGET WITH WINDS/SEAS HALF A CAT HIGHER ACROSS THE
COF-JUP LEG. OTHER THAN COSMETIC CHGS TO FRESHEN UP WORDING...WILL
MAKE A MINOR CHG TO POPS AS COVERAGE IS CURRENTLY MUCH HIGHER SOUTH
OF THE CAPE.

.MLB...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

SHORT TERM...PENDERGRAST
LONG TERM....CRISTALDI

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 20, 5:19 AM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes before

AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147-
201530-

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
619 AM EDT SAT SEP 20 2003

.DAY ONE...TODAY...

...SCATTERED LIGHTNING STORMS RETURN TO EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA...

AN EXPANDING DEPTH OF EASTERLY WINDS HAVE ALLOWED MOISTURE LEVELS TO
INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION DURING THE PAST 24 HOURS. SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND A FEW LIGHTNING STORMS WILL EFFECT MAINLY THE COASTAL
COUNTIES THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. DURING THE
AFTERNOON...STORM COVERAGE WILL INCREASE A LITTLE AND SHIFT INTO THE
INTERIOR COUNTIES OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. ALTHOUGH STORM COVERAGE
WILL DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON NEAR THE EAST COAST...A FEW SHOWERS MAY
STILL MOVE ONSHORE FROM THE ATLANTIC. OVERALL...STORM COVERAGE
TODAY IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE VERY HIGH...HOWEVER...A FEW STORMS WILL
HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LOCALLY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS.

ALONG THE BEACHES...A LINGERING SMALL SWELL COMBINED WITH ONSHORE
WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH WILL RESULT IN A MODERATE THREAT FOR RIP
CURRENTS TODAY. RIP CURRENTS TEND TO BE STRONGEST AND MOST NUMEROUS
DURING THE OUTGOING TIDE...WHICH WILL OCCUR EARLY THIS MORNING AND
THEN AGAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RIP CURRENTS CAN BE
ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS NEAR JETTIES AND PIERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

SCATTERED DAYTIME LIGHTNING STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE
PERIOD...POSSIBLY MOST NUMEROUS ON TUESDAY. THE MAIN HAZARDS FROM THE
STORMS WILL BE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY.

FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...GO TO
WWW.WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA.

SPRATT

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Indian River

When: September 20, 9:50 AM EST
Where: Indian River County, Wabasso
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 27.696, -80.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 49 year old woman was struck and killed by lightning while standing on a soccer field. About 20 other people were knocked to the ground by the strike. Four other people were transported to a local hospital. This was the first lightning ground stroke of the day in the area as showers began moving inland from the Atlantic.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Indian River	2003-09-20	49	Female	Ball Field	Direct

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, September 2003

Sources

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: 5336886.