Hurricane Jeanne caused heavy rains of 6 to 10 inches along the path of the eyewall. Areas to the north and south of the eyewall generally received 2 to 5 inches of rain over a 24 hour period.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
Hurricane Jeanne caused heavy rains of 6 to 10 inches along the path of the eyewall. Areas to the north and south of the eyewall generally received 2 to 5 inches of rain over a 24 hour period.
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, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
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 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
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.
&&
AWIPSUSRThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 6.33" of rain.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 6.66" of rain.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 7.19" of rain.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 5.97" of rain.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 9.76" of rain.
A National Weather Service observer recorded 6.48" of rain.
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, September 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: 5422735, 5422736, 5422737, 5422738, 5422739, 5422740.