1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Sep 4, 7:28 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 828 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004 ...TORNADO WATCH ISSUED FOR MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA... .UPDATE...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL COUNTIES EXCEPT LEE AND CHARLOTTE. HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES TO DRIFT VERY SLOWLY TOWARD THE COAST. THE LARGE EYE APPEARS TO BE GETTING SMALLER...AND THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS COME DOWN A BIT. AIRCRAFT RECON CONFIRM THE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE NOT YET INCREASED...AS REFLECTED ON THE 8 PM ADVISORY FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. RAIN BANDS CONTINUE TO DRIVE RAPIDLY SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA...AND THIS WILL CONTINUE...WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN BOTH FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS AND MORE. SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN PINELLAS COUNTY...ALONG WITH REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE. THIS HURRICANE IS LARGE AND SLOW MOVING. IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO FOCUS ON THE EXACT TRACK OF THE EYE...AS DAMAGING WINDS EXTEND WELL OUT AWAY FROM THE CENTER. THE SLOW MOVEMENT IS STILL EXPECTED TO LEAD TO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH SIGNIFICANT FLOODING. ZONES HAVE ALREADY BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT LATEST CONDITIONS AND THE TORNADO WATCH && .MARINE...CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE GRADUALLY AND UNSAFE BOATING CONDITIONS ARE ALREADY IN PLACE. SUSTAINED WINDS OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN RAIN BANDS WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SMALL CRAFT SHOULD STAY IN PORT. && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR MANATEE...SARASOTA...DESOTO...CHARLOTTE LEE...CITRUS...HERNANDO...HILLSBOROUGH...LEVY...PASCO...AND PINELLAS COUNTIES. TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT SUNDAY FOR LEVY...CITRUS... HERNANDO...PASCO...SUMTER...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH...POLK... MANATEE...SARASOTA...HARDEE...DESOTO...AND HIGHLANDS COUNTIES. FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING ALL OF FORECAST AREA. INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING FOR SUMTER...POLK...HIGHLANDS...AND HARDEE COUNTIES THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. && JILLSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 510 AM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-041208- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 510 AM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: HURRICANE FRANCES IS SLOWLY APPROACHING FLORIDAS EAST COAST AND IS FORECAST TO MOVE NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY AND THEN EXIT OUT OF THE GULF LATE SUNDAY. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR LEE AND CHARLOTTE COUNTIES WITH A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM ALONG THE COAST FROM SARASOTA COUNTY TO LEVY. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES. AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SUMTER...POLK...HIGHLANDS AND HARDEE COUNTIES. WINDS WILL INCREASE TODAY...REACHING NEAR HURRICANE FORCE OVER THE INTERIOR AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE NEAR THE COAST. BANDS OF SHOWERS WILL BE PASSING ACROSS THE STATE TODAY WITH HEAVY RAIN BEGINNING TO AFFECT SOUTHERN COUNTIES TODAY WITH RAINFALL OF UP TO 8 INCHES EXPECTED...ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. RESIDENTS CAN EXPECT WIDESPREAD FLOODING. IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS... MINOR TO MODERATE PROPERTY DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE...AND SEVERAL MAIN THOROUGHFARES MAY BE CLOSED. KNOWN INTERSECTIONS WITH POOR DRAINAGE MAY HAVE WATER LEVELS UP TO SEVERAL FEET. SOME SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL SURPASS BANK FULL. LARGER RIVERS WILL RISE. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR WINDS OR 20 KNOTS AND HIGHER AND INCREASING TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE LATER IN THE DAY AND CONTINUING SUNDAY. HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENTS WILL BE UPDATED ON A ROUTINE BASIS AS HURRICANE FRANCES AFFECTS THE AREA AND WILL CONTAIN DETAILED AND UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: HURRICANE FRANCES IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWESTWARD TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH HEAVY RAINFALL SPREADING INTO THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ZONES WITH AMOUNTS IN THE 8 TO 12 INCH RANGE AND ISOLATED AMOUNTS HIGHER. .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)
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 430 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004 FLZ042-043-048>052-055-060-042130- CITRUS-HERNANDO-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA- SUMTER- 430 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004 ...STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA... A BAND OF SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE FRANCES...MOVING WEST AT 30 MPH...WILL AFFECT PLANT CITY...ZEPHYRHILLS...DADE CITY AND BUSHNELL...UNTIL 530 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 55 MPH MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. SOME DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. BRIEF TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL UNTIL THE LINE HAS PASSED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
917 PM EDT SAT SEP 04 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 PM TROPICAL STORM VALRICO 27.95N 82.26W
09/04/2004 HILLSBOROUGH FL AMATEUR RADIO
SEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN IN A SQUALL
0113 PM TROPICAL STORM SARASOTA 27.34N 82.55W
09/04/2004 SARASOTA FL TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE BLOWN DOWN IN SQUALL. TREE WAS IN ROAD.
1242 PM TROPICAL STORM VALRICO 27.95N 82.26W
09/04/2004 HILLSBOROUGH FL TRAINED SPOTTER
WIND GUST MEASURED AT 63 MPH
0749 PM TROPICAL STORM SAINT PETERSBURG 27.76N 82.67W
09/04/2004 PINELLAS FL TRAINED SPOTTER
3 - 25 FOOT TREES UPROOTED. LIGHT POLE BENT OVER.
RAILROAD CROSSING SIGN BENT OVER ON 49TH ST BETWEEN 54TH
AVE AND 62ND AVE NORTH.
&&
DSThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:08 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado was reported by the public near Kathleen. The location and time of this tornado were based on radar.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2004Warnings 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: 5422831.