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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 8:27 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 927 AM EDT SUN JUL 18 2004 .DISCUSSION... UPPER SHORTWAVE HAS REACHED FULL AMPLIFICATION OVER THE SOUTHEAST WITH STRONG JET MAXIMA ROTATING AROUND BASE OF TROUGH THIS MORNING. THIS WL PRODUCE GREATEST SYNOPTIC ASCENT INTO THE AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL AND N FL. AN EXTENSIVE SHOWER BAND WITH EMBEDDED THUNDER WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE FOUR CORRIDOR THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE MORNING. MORNING SOUNDINGS REFLECT VERY HIGH AVAILABLE MOISTURE WITH PWATS AT OR ABOVE 2.2 INCHES AT BOTH JAX AND XMR. STRONG SW FLOW WILL CREATE POTENTIAL FOR GUSTY WINDS IN VICINITY OF SHOWERS WITH THE ADDED POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN EXCEEDING TWO INCHES IN SPOTS. FOR THE AFTERNOON...EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER WILL LIMIT SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY FOR ALL BUT SOUTHERNMOST AREAS AND EXPECT PREDOMINANCE OF SHOWERY TYPE PCPN ACROSS MOST OF AREA. SOUTHERN COUNTIES ALONG THE TREASURE COAST AND THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE OKEE WL SEE SLIGHTLY BETTER THUNDER POTENTIAL. WITH FORECAST UPDATE HAVE RAISED POPS INTO CATEGORICAL COVERAGE (90%) FROM NORTH BREVARD AND METRO ORLANDO NORTH WITH LIKELY ELSEWHERE. EXTENSIVE RAINFALL COVERAGE INTO THE EVEING ALSO WARRANTED INCREASE IN PRECIPITATION AND CLOUD COVERAGE AMOUNTS. && MARINE...BUOY/C-MAN OBS SHOW SCEC TO SCA WINDS IN PLACE OVER THE ATLC. BASED UPON CURRENT WIND SPEEDS AT BUOYS 009/010 AND UPSTREAM AT 008/012...DONT KNOW IF OUTER LEG WILL ACTUALLY SEE SUSTAINED WINDS APPROACHING 25KT AND MAY HAVE TO TOP OFF AT 20KT. OTRW...FCST IS IN FINE SHAPE. && .MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...FLAGLER BEACH TO JUPITER INLET 20 NM TO 60 NM. && SHORT-TERM...PENDERGRAST LONG-TERM...CRISTALDI
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 11 AM EDT SUN JUL 18 2004 AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 182000- COASTAL VOLUSIA-COCOA BEACH TO JUPITER INLET 20 NM TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- COCOA BEACH TO JUPITER INLET OUT TO 20 NM- FLAGLER BEACH TO COCOA BEACH 20 NM TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- FLAGLER BEACH TO COCOA BEACH OUT TO 20 NM-INDIAN RIVER- INLAND VOLUSIA-MARTIN-NORTHERN BREVARD-NORTHERN LAKE-OKEECHOBEE- ORANGE-OSCEOLA-SEMINOLE-SOUTHERN BREVARD-SOUTHERN LAKE-ST. LUCIE- 11 AM EDT SUN JUL 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE OVER GEORGIA WILL INCREASE THE SOUTHWEST FLOW TRANSPORTING VERY MOIST AIR FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA. EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER WILL LIMIT THE POTENTIAL INSTABILITY...HOWEVER THE MOIST ATMOSPHERE WILL SUPPORT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND LIGHTNING STORMS. STORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS WITH AFTERNOON HEATING. THE PRIMARY HAZARD FROM STORMS WILL BE DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND AND CLOUD TO WATER LIGHTNING. ADDITIONALLY STORMS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH AS A FEW WILL MIX HIGHER MOMENTUM AIR FROM ABOVE THE SURFACE TO THE GROUND. STORMS WILL MOVE QUICKLY TOWARDS THE EAST AND NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. ...FLOOD IMPACT... DESPITE THE RAPID STORM MOTION TOWARDS THE EAST...STORMS MAY MOVE REPEATEDLY OVER THE SAME AREA PRODUCING LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. THE GREATEST CONCERN FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE FROM OSCEOLA AND BREVARD COUNTIES AND POINTS NORTH. ...MARINE THUNDERSTORM GUST IMPACT... ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP OVER THE MAINLAND WILL APPROACH THE COAST RAPIDLY FROM THE WEST. STRONGER STORMS MOVING ACROSS THE INTRACOASTAL AND NEARSHORE WATERS MAY BRING WIND GUSTS OVER 35 KNOTS AND LOCALLY ROUGH SEAS. CLOUD TO WATER LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL CONCERN. MARINERS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO GET TO SAFE HARBOR QUICKLY AS STORMS WILL APPROACH FROM THE WEST AT 25 TO 30 MPH. ...WIND AND SEA IMPACT... STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 KNOTS OUT TO 20 NAUTICAL MILES FROM THE COAST AND AROUND 20 KNOTS BEYOND 20 MILES. SEAS NEAR 5 TO 6 FEET ARE FORECAST WELL OFFSHORE. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT BEYOND 20 MILES FROM THE COAST...WHILE SMALL CRAFT SHOULD CONTINUE TO EXERCISE CAUTION ACROSS THE INTRACOASTAL AND NEAR SHORE WATERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE LOW WILL TRACK UP THE MID ATLANTIC COAST ON MONDAY WITH A TRAILING FRONTAL BOUNDARY THROUGH NORTH FLORIDA. ADDITIONAL LIGHTNING STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED DUE TO HIGH MOISTURE VALUES AND UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. WIND AND SEAS FOR THE MARINE AREA ARE NOT EXPECTED TO DIMINISH UNTIL TUESDAY WHEN THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES FARTHER AWAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THE WEATHER AND SELF ACTIVATE IF NEEDED. BLOTTMAN/JP
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 21 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:40 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A woman taking shelter from thunderstorm rain under a tree on a spoil island in the Indian River Lagoon was killed by lightning. Her 10 year old son and a 21 year old woman were seriously injured by the strike.
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, Brevard | 2004-07-18 | 41 | Female | Under Tree | Direct |
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, July 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: 5418309.