Damaging Wind in Florida, February 23, 2004

Name: Damaging Wind in Florida, February 23, 2004
Start: 2004-02-23T23:45
End: 2004-02-23T23:54
Location: Florida

February 23, 2004 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 2
Property damage: $300,000
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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 8:40 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 8:40 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
840 PM EST MON FEB 23 2004

.REST OF TONIGHT...MOSAIC RADAR LOOP INDICATING LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER N FL AND THE NORTHERN GULF. THIS AREA HAS
BEEN MOVING EASTWARD...AND EXPECTED IT REACH THE NORTHERN FA LATER
TONIGHT. THIS AREA OF CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE GRADUALLY WEAKENING
AS IT MOVES EASTWARD. MESO-ETA SEEMS TO TAKE ANY PRECIP WITH THIS
AREA THE FARTHEST SOUTH TONIGHT...POSSIBLY REACHING THE COASTAL
AREAS OF PASCO AND NORTHERN PINELLAS.

FOR NOW...CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS RIGHT ON TARGET WITH LIKELY POPS
LEVY...50% REST OF THE N FA...THEN SLIGHT CHC COASTAL CENTRAL.
GIVEN PRESS GRAD TO SLOWLY INCREASE TONIGHT...DONT THINK FOG WILL
BE A PROBLEM. WILL ISSUE UPDATE TO MAKE SOME MINOR COSMETIC
ADJUSTMENTS...BUT NO BIG CHANGES PLANNED FOR TONIGHT.

&&

.MARINE...GIVEN LARGE AREA OF CONVECTION MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN
WATERS...WILL NEED TO BEEF UP PRECIP WORDING AND ADD GUSTY WINDS IN
THUNDERSTORMS FROM TARPON NORTH. REST OF FCST SEEMS FINE FOR TONIGHT.
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY OVER THE NORTHERN GULF HAS BEEN A BIG WIND
PRODUCER...WITH MANY MARINE OBS OVER THE NORTHERN GULF EXPERIENCING
TSTM GUSTS OF OVER 30 KTS. BUOY42040 (ESE OF NEW ORLEANS) HAD A GUST
OF 54KTS AROUND 21Z

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 NONE.

MORALES

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 23, 4:55 AM EST, 18 hours 50 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
455 AM EST MON FEB 23 2004

FLZ039-042-043-048-231600-
CITRUS-HERNANDO-LEVY-SUMTER-
455 AM EST MON FEB 23 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR FLORIDAS NATURE COAST.

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY:

...HEAVY RAINS MAY DEVELOP TUESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY...

DISTURBANCES MOVING ALONG A STATIONARY FRONT LATE TUESDAY INTO EARLY
WEDNESDAY WILL COMBINE WITH TROPICAL MOISTURE TO PRODUCE A BAND OF
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS NORTH FLORIDA.  CURRENT DATA SUGGEST THE
HEAVIEST RAINS WOULD OCCUR FROM CITRUS COUNTY NORTHWARD.  ONE TO TWO
INCHES COULD FALL TUESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY...BUT A
PERSISTENT BAND MAY PRODUCE HIGHER TOTALS.

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE RAIN
BANDS.  CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE LATER WEDNESDAY AFTER A FRONT MOVES
THROUGH.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)

FLZ049>051-055-060-062-065-231600-
CHARLOTTE-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-SARASOTA-
455 AM EST MON FEB 23 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA COASTAL COUNTIES.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT:

LIGHT SOUTH WINDS AND RAPIDLY INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MAY ALLOW
SEA FOG TO DEVELOP TONIGHT AND MOVE ONSHORE TOWARD DAYBREAK TUESDAY.
IF THE FOG DEVELOPS...VISIBILITY COULD DROP TO LESS THAN ONE HALF
MILE.

THE FOG MAY PRODUCE TRICKY DRIVING CONDITIONS EARLY TUESDAY
MORNING...ESPECIALLY NEAR POPULATED COASTAL COMMUNITIES FROM TAMPA
AND SAINT PETERSBURG SOUTH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY:

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRECEDE A COLD FRONT LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.  NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED
THEREAFTER.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)

FLZ052-056-057-061-231600-
DE SOTO-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-POLK-
455 AM EST MON FEB 23 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY:

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRECEDE A COLD FRONT LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.  NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED
THEREAFTER.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)

BSG

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 23, 11:23 PM EST, 22 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1123 PM EST MON FEB 23 2004

FLZ039-042-240500-
CITRUS-LEVY-
1123 PM EST MON FEB 23 2004

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ALONG THE CITRUS LEVY COUNTY LINE...
A THUNDERSTORM...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH...WILL AFFECT YANKEETOWN AND
INGLIS...UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR.
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT
OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. THIS
STORM WILL PRODUCE PEA SIZE HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE
VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL.

GOLDSMITH

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 145 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Citrus

When: February 23, 11:45 PM EST to 11:54 PM EST
Where: Citrus County, 7 mi N of Crystal River
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.000, -82.567

A severe thunderstorm wind gust of 70 mph caused tree and home damage to a rectangular area 4.5 miles by 3 miles across in north central Citrus county. Citrus County Emergency Management conducted a survey and found the damage was caused by straight line winds. Seven mobile homes were destroyed, seven homes had major damage, and 33 homes had minor damage. Most of the minor damage included damage to pool cages, car ports, and skirting around mobile homes. Two injuries were reported on the 8500 block of West Moonhaze Court. One man suffered minor back injury as the wall of his mobile home fell on him as he slept. One women suffered an eye injury from debris as her mobile home lost its roof. Numerous trees were downed or damaged along the path of the storm. Debris removal costs were $36,000.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, February 2004

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: 5382778.