Flooding in Florida, October 1 to 31, 2004

Name: Flooding in Florida, October 1 to 31, 2004
Start: 2004-10-01T00:00
End: 2004-10-31T23:59
Location: Florida

October 1 to 31, 2004 · NWS TBW · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Widespread heavy rain from the hurricanes in September combined with saturated ground and swollen rivers continued to cause river flooding across west central Florida. 86 feet on September 30th and remained above flood stage throughout the month of October.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 happened

The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.

Widespread heavy rain from the hurricanes in September combined with saturated ground and swollen rivers continued to cause river flooding across west central Florida. In Citrus County, the Withlacoochee River at Holder (flood stage 8 feet) reached an all time high of 10.86 feet on September 30th and remained above flood stage throughout the month of October. The Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon (flood stage 29 feet) reach 30.41 feet on the September 27th and also remained above flood stage throughout October. In Hernando County, the Withlacoochee River at Trilby (flood stage 12 feet) reached 16.55 feet on September 29th and the Withlacoochee River at Croom (flood stage 8 feet) reach 11.90 feet on October 4th. Both sites fell below flood stage on October 24th. In Hillsborough County, the Alafia River at Lithia (flood stage 13 feet) reached 19.19 feet on September 28th and fell below flood stage on October 3rd. The Little Manatee River at Wiamauma (flood stage 11 feet) reach 14.60 feet on the September 28th and fell below flood stage on October 1. In Hardee County the Peace River at Zolfo Springs (flood stage 16 feet) reached 21.19 feet on September 29th and fell below flood stage on October 12th. Damage estimates were included in the hurricane report because it was not possible to extract the flood damage information from the available data.

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 Sep 30, 4:20 PM EST, 7 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 30, 4:20 PM EST, 7 hours 40 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
520 PM EDT THU SEP 30 2004

.UPDATE...NEEDED TO ADD IN SOME ISOLATED EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WEST CENTRAL ZONES BASED ON CURRENT SATELLITE AND RADAR
TRENDS.

&&

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

&&

ALSHEIMER

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 30, 4:50 AM EST, 19 hours 10 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
550 AM EDT THU SEP 30 2004

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-301400-
CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-
LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER-
550 AM EDT THU SEP 30 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS THE REGION REMAINS FAIRLY DRY.  HOWEVER...
THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE WHEN COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING
AND THE SEA BREEZES TO PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON.  THE BEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SOUTH OF
INTERSTATE 4 AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 75.  THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE
OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY:

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.  WEAK HIGH PRESSURE
WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE AREA INTO NEXT WEEK WITH ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR
SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY.

.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)

PRC

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Citrus

When: October 1, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Hardee

When: October 1, 12:00 AM EST to October 12, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Hardee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.493, -81.810 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hernando

When: October 1, 12:00 AM EST to October 24, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Hillsborough

When: October 1, 12:00 AM EST to October 3, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Manatee

When: October 1, 12:00 AM EST to October 10, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Manatee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, October 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: 5426548, 5426549, 5426550, 5426551, 5426552.