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 May 17, 12:07 PM EST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 107 PM EDT MON MAY 17 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-WED)...SOME DRIER AIR HAS WORKED INTO THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND THIS HAS LED TO SHALLOWER CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT SO FAR. STILL...EAST COAST SEA BREEZE IS BECOMING ACTIVE WITH SHOWERS AND EVEN A FEW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM PUTNAM COUNTY SOUTHWARD TO OSCEOLA. THIS LINE IS MOVING SLOWLY WESTWARD WHILE NEW SHOWERS ARE DEVELOPING OUT AHEAD OF THAT LINE IN EASTERN POLK COUNTY. WEST COAST SEA BREEZE SHOULD DEVELOP IN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO AND SHOWERS COULD DEVELOP ALONG THAT BOUNDARY AS WELL. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDER IN OUR ZONES WILL BE WHEN THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE MOVES INTO OUR COASTAL COUNTIES AND BEGINS TO INTERACT WITH THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE. THIS SHOULD OCCUR LATER THIS AFTERNOON...PROBABLY AFTER 4 PM. STEERING WINDS FOR DEEPER CONVECTION/THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ARE QUITE LIGHT SO WOULDNT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING ALONG WEST COASTAL COMMUNITIES WHERE BEST LOW- LEVEL CONVERGENCE SETS UP. MODELS CONTINUE THE DRYING TREND TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AND I LOWERED POPS TO 20 PERCENT FOR TUESDAY AFTERNOON. I LEFT THE CHANCE OF THUNDER ALONG THE FAVORED SEA BREEZE LOCATIONS BUT MID LEVEL DRY AIR MAY PROVE TO BE TOO MUCH. OTHER THAN THAT...MADE SOME MINOR TWEAKS HERE AND THERE TO TEMPERATURE AND DEW POINT FIELDS BUT OTHERWISE VERY FEW CHANGES. .LONG TERM (WED NIGHT-MON)... VERY LITTLE CHANGE WAS MADE TO THE CURRENT EXTENDED FORECAST. IN GENERAL...A SFC RIDGE AXIS IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER NORTH FLORIDA THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH ESE FLOW. MEX POPS LOOK TOO LOW TO MENTION POPS THROUGH THE PERIOD AT THIS TIME. THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IS WHAT TO DO WITH THE MODELS INDICATING AN UPPER LOW OVER THE CENT GULF BY THIS WEEKEND. THIS UPPER LOW HELPS TO PULL A WEAK SURFACE LOW AND DEEP LAYER MOISTURE NORTHWARD FROM THE CARIBBEAN TOWARD THE FL PENINSULA. FOR NOW...WILL NOT BITE ON THIS SOLUTION...AND KEEP LOW/NO POPS THROUGH THE PERIOD. WILL WAIT FOR ANOTHER RUN OR SO BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER TO BRING POPS IN FOR SUN AND MON. && .MARINE...GRADIENT SLOWLY RELAXING AS THE SURFACE RIDGE BEGINS TO NUDGE CLOSER TO THE PENINSULA. STILL...EAST COAST SEA BREEZE WELL DEVELOPED ALREADY AND EXPECT A SURGE AGAIN THIS EVENING ON THE ORDER OF 15 KNOTS. SCATTERED AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND STORMS THIS EVENING WILL END BEFORE MIDNIGHT WITH NO SIGNIFICANT HIGHLIGHTS AFTER THAT. && .FIRE WX...ALTHOUGH DEW POINTS HAVE DROPPED TO THE MID 60S IN PLACES...NOT ENOUGH DRY AIR ALOFT AT THIS TIME TO HAVE RH DROP MUCH BELOW 40 PERCENT. NEXT FEW DAYS SHOULD BE SIMIAR...BUT WILL HAVE TO WATCH TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN CASE DRY AIR BECOMES DEEP ENOUGH TO MIX DOWN TO SURFACE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 069 087 069 087 / 30 20 10 20 FMY 067 089 067 089 / 00 20 10 20 GIF 068 088 067 089 / 00 20 00 20 SRQ 067 087 067 087 / 30 20 10 20 BKV 063 089 063 089 / 30 20 10 20 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JILLSON LONG TERM....RFM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 600 AM EDT MON MAY 17 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-171400- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 600 AM EDT MON MAY 17 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER THERE IS A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. WHEN SKIES DARKEN...MOVE INDOORS. IF THERE IS TIME...UNPLUG APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. WAIT UNTIL THE STORM ENDS BEFORE GOING BACK OUTSIDE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) RD
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:32 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was struck by lightning while playing golf. The lightning strike entered in his stomach and exited out his foot. It was not raining at the golf course when the lightning strike occurred, however dark clouds were nearby.
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, Lee | 2004-05-17 | 31 | Male | Golfing | 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, May 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: 5394496.