Heavy rainfall occurred over a large portion of west central and southwest Florida. This was the first widespread heavy rain event since tropical storm Henri in early September of 2003.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall occurred over a large portion of west central and southwest Florida. This was the first widespread heavy rain event since tropical storm Henri in early September of 2003. A strong upper level trough moved slowly across the southeastern United Stated and combined with a quasi-stationary front across the area to produce the heavy rain. The heaviest rains in excess of five inches occurred across Hernando and northern Pasco counties eastward into Sumter county. Elsewhere, widespread rain fall totals of two to four inches was recorded. No major flooding occurred during the event due to dry conditions during the preceeding five months.
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 24, 10:43 AM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1043 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 UPDATED ZONES AND COASTALS AGAIN TO INCLUDE TORNADO WATCH. ALSO LOWERED MAX TEMPS A BIT IN THE NORTH WITH COOL POOL DEVELOPING NORTH OF CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW. LOTS OF THINGS TO LOOK AT THIS MORNING. OVER THE NORTH...QUASI- STATIONARY BOUNDARY IS FOCUS FOR CONVECTION...WHICH CONTINUES TO TRAIN OVER HERNANDO COUNTY...FED BY MOIST...SOUTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW. BOUNDARY WILL WAFFLE AROUND A LITTLE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT SHOULD NOT MOVE A WHOLE LOT IN EITHER DIRECTION. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN TO CONTINUE AS SATELLITE SHOWS ACTIVITY CONTINUING TO FORM ALONG THE BOUNDARY OVER THE EASTERN GULF AND MOVE EASTWARD. FOR THE CENTRAL FA...LARGE BATCH OF LOW CLOUDS OVER THE GULF IS MOVING ONSHORE AND SHOULD BE FAIRLY STUBBORN THIS AFTERNOON. MOSTLY CLOUDY LOOKS GOOD WITH MORE BREAKS INLAND THAN NEAR THE COAST. DOWN SOUTH...MORE SUNSHINE WILL LET TEMPS SHOOT UP INTO THE 80S AWAY FROM THE COAST. OVERALL...CURRENT ZONES LOOK PRETTY GOOD. NO CHANGES PLANNED. SEVERE THREAT...HAVE HAD BRIEF PERIODS OF ROTATION WITH STORMS MOVING ALONG BOUNDARY THIS MORNING...BUT NOTHING PARTICULARLY ORGANIZED YET. ORGANIZATION MAY IMPROVE DURING THE DAY AS LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY INCREASES AND FEEDS INTO THE BOUNDARY...BUT STRONGEST UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS DONT GENERATE UNTIL TONIGHT. MARINE...SCEC WORKING OUT WELL SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY...BUT WINDS MUCH LIGHTER OVER A GOOD PART OF THE NORTHERN LEG. WILL SEPARATE ZONES ACCORDINGLY AT 1030 AM UPDATE. && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SCEC BONITA BCH TO SUWANNEE RVR INCLUDING TAMPA BAY. ALSHEIMER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1100 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 .AN OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA THIS MORNING HAS PROVIDED A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL REACH SEVERE LIMITS FROM LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON FOR POTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA. FLZ039-055>057-060>062-065-242100- CHARLOTTE-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-LEE-LEVY-MANATEE-SARASOTA- 1100 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM DURING THE AFTERNOON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SMALL HAIL. SOME OF THE HEAVIER STORMS MAY HAVE HEAVY RAINFALL WITH MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE. @0006 FLZ042-043-048>052-242100- CITRUS-HERNANDO-HILLSBOROUGH-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SUMTER- 1100 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PART OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM EST FOR THE COUNTIES OF...CITRUS...HERNANDO...HILLSBOROUGH...PASCO...PINELLAS...POLK... AND SUMTER. DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE MAIN THREATS UNTIL 400 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS. SMALL TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE UNTIL 400 PM. TREES...POWER LINES...AND POORLY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS WILL BE MOST AT RISK. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 950 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 FLZ048-241530- HERNANDO- 950 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2004 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT HERNANDO COUNTY... A STRONG THUNDERSTORM...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH...WILL AFFECT WEEKI WACHEE...BAYPORT AND BROOKSVILLE...UNTIL 1030 AM 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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Chassahowitzka recorded 4.33 inches of rain during the event.
Inglis recorded 4.50 inches of rain during the event.
The airport recorded 6.76 inches of rain during the event.
Bushnell recorded 6.51 inches of rain during the event.
Two miles northwest of Gowers Corner recorded 4.40 inches of rain during the event
The airport recorded 4.44 inches of rain during the event.
Thonotosassa recorded 4.02 inches of rain during the event.
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, February 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: 5382779, 5382782, 5382780, 5382981, 5382783, 5382863, 5382781.