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 Aug 18, 1:00 PM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 200 PM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-FRI)...HIGH PRESSURE SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL BUILD OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THROUGH FRIDAY. SURFACE RIDGE AXIS WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA WITH WEAK BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW. AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE WEST COAST SEABREEZE BOUNDARY EACH AFTERNOON AND DRIFT OVER THE INTERIOR THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DUE TO THE WEAK BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW...STORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING AND WILL CAUSE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. SLIGHTLY HIGHER POPS OVER THE INTERIOR AS WEST AND EAST COAST SEABREEZES WILL COLLIDE OVER THE INTERIOR DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING GENERATING SLIGHTLY GREATER AREAL COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS. .LONG TERM (FRI NIGHT-WED)...MODELS ARE PRETTY MUCH UNCHANGED WITH SURFACE RIDGE AXIS TO REMAIN ACROSS THE STATE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. RIPPLES OF ENERGY WILL PROPAGATE EASTWARD IN THE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ACROSS NORTH FLORIDA...AND THIS MAY OCCASIONALLY ENHANCE THE OVERNIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF. SINCE THE LOW-LEVEL FLOW IS FORECAST TO REMAIN ON THE LIGHT SIDE...WILL NOT ADD NIGHT-TIME PRECIPITATION TO THE NORTHERN COASTAL AREAS AT THIS TIME. BASICALLY...50 PERCENT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY WITH NEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL HIGHS AND LOWS. .MARINE...WINDS WILL REMAIN LESS THAN 15 KNOTS WITH SEAS LESS THAN 3 FEET THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO HAZARDS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 75 91 76 91/ 20 40 20 40 FMY 75 92 76 91/ 30 50 20 50 GIF 74 93 73 93/ 20 50 20 50 SRQ 75 90 76 90/ 20 40 20 40 BKV 71 92 73 91/ 20 40 20 40 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. EO/EJ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 537 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-181535- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 537 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: TYPICAL SUMMERTIME AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES...AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. 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...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .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 (LOWER CASE)
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 423 PM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 FLZ055-182100- MANATEE- 423 PM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT EASTERN MANATEE COUNTY... STATIONARY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...WILL AFFECT DUETTE...LAKE MANATEE STATE PARK...AND MYAKKA CITY UNTIL 500 PM EDT. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS...AND MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION. MCMICHAEL
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 39 year old female was injured by a nearby lightning strike at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2004
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: 5422763.