Tropical Storm in Florida, September 25 to 27, 2004

Name: Tropical Storm in Florida, September 25 to 27, 2004
Start: 2004-09-25T22:00
End: 2004-09-27T04:00
Location: Florida

September 25 to 27, 2004 · NWS TBW · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $135 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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.

Hurricane Jeanne followed the nearly the same path across Florida as Hurricane Frances three weeks earlier and was the unprecedented fourth hurricane to damage Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. The hurricane moved ashore along the east coast of Florida near Stuart late on September 25th with an eye 30 to 40 miles across. Jeanne took a course north of Lake Okeechobee and decreased to a tropical storm in easter Polk County around 9 AM EDT on the 26th. The center of Jeanne curved north of Tampa Bay during the afternoon and traveled north along the coastal counties before exiting north through Levy County around 10 PM. In Hillsborough County the observation from the Vandenburg airport recorded a maximum wind gust of 58 knots (67 MPH) from the north at 8:58 AM EST on 09/26/2004. In Pasco County the COMPS Fred Howard Park Coastal Station recorded a wind gust of 66 knots (76 mph) from the northwest at 12:54 PM EST on 09/26/2004. In Hernando County the observation from the Brooksville airport recorded a maximum wind of 54 knots (62 MPH) from the north at 11:26 AM EST on 09/26/2004. In Levy County the observation from Cedar Key recorded a gust to 40 knots (46 MPH) from the northeast at 5 PM EST on 09/26/2004. In Sarasota County the maximum wind recorded at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport was 55 knots (63 MPH) from the northwest at 10:04 AM EST on 09/26/2004. In Charlotte there was was 1.5 feet of water in downtown Punta Gorda due to a "back door"storm surge of 5.5 ft into Charlotte Harbor. Tarps on roofs from Hurricane Charley were blown off of many roofs during Hurricane Jeanne. The observation from the Punta Gorda Airport recorded a maximum wind of 53 knots (61 MPH) from the west at 7:17 AM EST on 09/26/2004. In Lee County the Big Carlos Pass observation recorded a gust to 49 knots (56 MPH) from the west southwest at 7:42 AM EST on 09/26/2004. The damage total was estimated by doubling the insured losses unless otherwise noted. The doubling accounted for uninsured losses and damage to the public infrastructure. Flood damage was included within these totals 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 25, 7:55 PM EST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 7:55 PM EST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
855 PM EDT SAT SEP 25 2004

.DISCUSSION...JEANNE CONTINUING TO PUSH WESTWARD TOWARD EAST COAST OF
FLORIDA AND EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AROUND MIDNIGHT.  STRONGEST
RAINBANDS REMAIN ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA AT THIS TIME...BUT THESE
SHOULD MOVE INTO HIGHLANDS AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF POLK COUNTIES
BY OR SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.  NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE TO CURRENT
ZONE FORECASTS AT THIS TIME AND WILL WAIT FOR 11 PM ADVISORY FOR
HURRICANE CENTER.

&&

.MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE TONIGHT THROUGH
SUNDAY AS JEANNE MOVES ACROSS THE PENINSULA.  CURRENT MARINE FORECAST
WILL NOT BE CHANGED AT THIS TIME AND WILL ALSO WAIT FOR 11 PM
ADVISORY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES.

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 TROPICAL STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM BONITA BEACH TO SUWANNEE RIVER
  OUT 60 NM INCLUDING LEVY...CITRUS...HERNANDO...PASCO...PINELLAS...
  HILLSBOROUGH...MANATEE...SARASOTA...CHARLOTTE...DESOTO...AND LEE
  COUNTIES.
 HURRICANE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM ENGLEWOOD NORTH TO THE SUWANNEE RIVER
  OUT 60 NM INCLUDING SARASOTA...MANATEE...HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...
  PASCO...HERNANDO...CITRUS...AND LEVY COUNTIES.
 INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY
  FOR SUMTER...POLK...HARDEE AND HIGHLANDS.
 FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR ALL COUNTIES.
 TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SUMTER...POLK...HARDEE...HIGHLANDS...AND
  DESOTO COUNTIES UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT.
&&

PRC

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 25, 3:19 AM EST, 18 hours 41 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
419 AM EDT SAT SEP 25 2004

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-251500-
CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-
LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER-
419 AM EDT SAT SEP 25 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

...SYNOPSIS...
HURRICANE JEANNE WILL ENTER THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA TONIGHT...AND
WILL SPREAD HEAVY RAIN OVER THE FLORIDA PENINSULA LATE TODAY INTO
SUNDAY. SPIRAL BANDS WILL APPROACH WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
BY THIS EVENING...WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN THROUGH SUNDAY. THE
HEAVIEST RAIN WILL OCCUR ALONG THE TRACK THE CENTER OF JEANNE TAKES.

...RAINFALL...
STORM RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE LIKELY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA...WITH 5 TO 10 INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG THE TRACK
THE CENTER TAKES.

...RIVER STREAM AND CREEK IMPACTS...
THE PEACE RIVER...WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER...AND CYPRESS CREEK ARE STILL
ABOVE FLOOD STAGE DUE TO PREVIOUS HEAVY RAIN EVENTS.  ALTHOUGH IT HAS
BEEN RELATIVELY DRY THE PAST 10 TO 14 DAYS...THE GROUND REMAINS
FAIRLY SATURATED. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN FROM HURRICANE JEANNE MAY
CAUSE MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING ONCE AGAIN ACROSS MUCH OF WEST
CENTRAL FLORIDA.  THIS WILL DEPEND GREATLY ON THE ACTUAL TRACK JEANNE
TAKES OVER THE FLORIDA PENINSULA.

RESIDENTS LIVING IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT
PROPERTY.

INCREASING WINDS ALONG THE COAST WILL INCREASE THE SURF AND THE
CHANCE OF A RIP CURRENT TODAY.  A RIP CURRENT IS A 10 TO 30 YARD WIDE
CHANNEL OF WATER THAT CAN PULL EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER INTO DEEPER
WATER.

SMALL CRAFT SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT. LARGER VESSELS MAY WANT TO
POSTPONE TRIPS UNTIL CONDITIONS IMPROVE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY:

JEANNE PULLS AWAY FROM THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY LEAVING WEAK
HIGH PRESSURE IN ITS WAKE. EXPECT MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. WINDS BECOME MORE EASTERLY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AND THIS
WILL LEAD TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY.

&&

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Tropical Storm, Sarasota

When: September 25, 10:00 PM EST to September 26, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Sarasota forecast zone
Property damage: $6.4 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Charlotte

When: September 25, 11:00 PM EST to September 26, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Charlotte forecast zone
Property damage: $2.3 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, De Soto

When: September 25, 11:00 PM EST to September 26, 4:00 PM EST
Where: De Soto forecast zone
Property damage: $1.7 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 27.186, -81.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tropical Storm, Lee

When: September 25, 11:00 PM EST to September 26, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Property damage: $1.9 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Manatee

When: September 25, 11:00 PM EST to September 26, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Manatee forecast zone
Property damage: $10 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Levy

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to September 27, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Levy forecast zone
Property damage: $1.1 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Citrus

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to September 27, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Property damage: $5.0 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Hernando

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to September 27, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Property damage: $11 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Hillsborough

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough forecast zone
Property damage: $45 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Pasco

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where: Pasco forecast zone
Property damage: $21 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Pinellas

When: September 26, 1:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Pinellas forecast zone
Property damage: $29 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph).

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, September 2004 The 2004 hurricane season

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: 5422804, 5422795, 5422797, 5422800, 5422801, 5422794, 5422796, 5422798, 5422799, 5422802, 5422803.