Flooding in Florida, September 26 to 30, 2004

Name: Flooding in Florida, September 26 to 30, 2004
Start: 2004-09-26T12:00
End: 2004-09-30T23:59
Location: Florida

September 26 to 30, 2004 · NWS TBW · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Widespread heavy rain combined with saturated ground and swollen rivers to cause river flooding across west central Florida and lead to record flooding on one of those rivers. 41 feet on the 27th.

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 combined with saturated ground and swollen rivers to cause river flooding across west central Florida and lead to record flooding on one of those rivers. In Citrus County, the Withlacoochee River at Holder (flood stage 8 feet) reached an all time high of 10.86 feet on the 30th and the Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon (flood stage 29 feet) reach 30.41 feet on the 27th. In Hernando County, the Withlacoochee River at Trilby (flood stage 12 feet) reached 16.55 feet on the 29th and the Withlacoochee River at Croom (flood stage 8 feet) reach 11.64 feet on the 30th. In Hillsborough County, the Alafia River at Lithia (flood stage 13 feet) reached 19.19 feet on the 28th, and the Little Manatee River at Wiamauma (flood stage 11 feet) reach 14.60 feet on the 28th. In Hardee County the Peace River at Zolfo Springs (flood stage 16 feet) reached 21.19 feet on the 29th. In Manatee County the Manatee River at Myakka Head (flood stage 7 feet) reached 14.54 feet on the 27th. 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 26, 8:30 AM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 8:30 AM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
930 AM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

CURRENTLY...SATELLITE AND 88D RETURNS SHOW HURRICANE JEANNE WAS
LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF FORT MEADE IN SOUTHERN POLK COUNTY EARLY
THIS MORNING. SURFACE OBSERVATIONAL DATA SHOWS TROPICAL STORM FORCE
WINDS WERE IMPACTING A LARGE PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA AS I WRITE
WITH SEVERAL REPORTS OF HURRICANE FORCE GUSTS AS WELL. AS JEANNE
CONTINUES TO MOVE WEST TROPICAL STORM TO HURRICANE CONDITIONS WILL
PREVAIL ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL FL INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
ZONES AND COASTAL PRODUCTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE
TORNADO WATCH BOX...WITH NO OTHER CHANGES EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON HURRICANE JEANNE...PLEASE REFER TO OUR
HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENTS.

NOTE TO TV METEOROLOGISTS...INSTANT MESSAGING CAPABILITY IS DOWN
HERE IN RUSKIN DUE TO HIGH WINDS.

&&

.MARINE...HURRICANE WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FROM ENGLEWOOD NORTH
TO THE SUWANNEE RIVER...WITH TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS IN EFFECT FROM
BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD. ALL MARINERS ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN IN
PORT. NO CHANGES EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM ENGLEWOOD TO SUWANNEE RIVER.
 TROPICAL STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR LEE...CHARLOTTE AND DESOTO
  COUNTIES...INCLUDING COASTAL WATERS BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD OUT
T 60 NM.
 INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SUMTER...POLK...
  HIGHLANDS AND HARDEE COUNTIES.
 TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM FOR LEVY...CITRUS...SUMTER...
  HERNANDO...PASCO...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH...AND POLK COUNTIES
  INCLUDING THE ADJACENT GULF COASTAL WATERS OUT 20 NM.
 FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES.

&&

SHORT TERM...MCMICHAEL
LONG TERM...SHARP

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 26, 5:00 AM EST, 7 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
600 AM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-261800-
CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-
LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER-
600 AM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

HURRICANE JEANNE WILL BE MOVING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA.  SEE
THE LATEST HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT FOR UPDATED STORM INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY:

RIVER FLOODING WILL BE THE MAIN CONCERN IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE
JEANNE.  SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY
AFTERNOON...WITH ISOLATED AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED TODAY.

&&

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

13

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 26, 8:23 AM EST, 3 hours 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
923 AM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0815 AM     HURRICANE        BARTOW                  27.90N 81.85W
09/26/2004                   POLK               FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            71 MPH WIND GUST

0830 AM     HURRICANE        BARTOW                  27.90N 81.85W
09/26/2004                   POLK               FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            69 MPH WIND GUST

0830 AM     HURRICANE        10 S MULBERRY           27.76N 81.97W
09/26/2004                   POLK               FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            71 MPH WIND GUST

0845 AM     HURRICANE        SAINT PETERSBURG        27.76N 82.67W
09/26/2004                   PINELLAS           FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            61 MPH WIND GUST

0800 AM     HURRICANE        ARCADIA                 27.22N 81.86W
09/26/2004                   DESOTO             FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            76 MPH WIND GUST

0845 AM     HURRICANE        VALRICO                 27.95N 82.26W
09/26/2004                   HILLSBOROUGH       FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            ROOF DAMAGE FROM WIND.

0711 AM     HURRICANE        BARTOW                  27.90N 81.85W
09/26/2004                   POLK               FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            WIND GUSTS OF 76 MPH.

0730 AM     HURRICANE        LAKELAND                28.04N 81.96W
09/26/2004                   POLK               FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            WIND GUSTS OF 54 MPH.

0900 AM     HURRICANE        3 NW BRANDON            27.96N 82.33W
09/26/2004                   HILLSBOROUGH       FL   AWOS

            66 MPH WIND GUST AT VANDENBERG AIRPORT.

0903 AM     HURRICANE        10 S BRADENTON          27.34N 82.58W
09/26/2004                   SARASOTA           FL   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

            60 MPH WIND GUST AT SARASOTA/BRADENTON AIRPORT.

&&

AWIPSUSR

Local storm report, Sep 26, 11:35 AM EST, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1235 PM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1142 AM     HURRICANE        CLEARWATER BEACH        27.98N 82.82W
09/26/2004                   PINELLAS           FL   C-MAN STATION

            WIND GUST TO 73 MPH.

1230 PM     HURRICANE        SAINT PETERSBURG        27.76N 82.67W
09/26/2004                   PINELLAS           FL   AMATEUR RADIO

            WIND GUST TO 75 MPH

&&

FA

Local storm report, Sep 26, 11:36 AM EST, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1236 PM EDT SUN SEP 26 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1145 AM     STORM SURGE      FORT MYERS BEACH        26.45N 81.96W
09/26/2004  3.00 FT          LEE                FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            ESTIMATED 2 TO 4 FOOT SURGE CAUSING MINOR FLOODING ON
            FORT MYERS BEACH...SANIBEL ISLAND...AND CAPTIVA ISLAND.

&&

FA

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, Hillsborough

When: September 26, 12:00 PM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Hardee

When: September 26, 12:00 PM EST to September 30, 11:59 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, Citrus

When: September 26, 12:00 PM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Hernando

When: September 26, 12:00 PM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Manatee

When: September 26, 12:00 PM EST to September 30, 11:59 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, September 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: 5422891, 5422892, 5422893, 5422894, 5422895.