Florida, 2005

Storm Surge in Florida, July 10, 2005

July 10, 2005 · NWS TBW · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

A bubble of storm surge from Hurricane Dennis moved north along the west Florida Gulf Coast during the day. The surge peaked at Fort Myers around 3:30 AM EDT, in Pinellas County between 8-9 AM EDT, and at Cedar Key just before noon.

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
$4.3 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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.

A bubble of storm surge from Hurricane Dennis moved north along the west Florida Gulf Coast during the day. The surge peaked at Fort Myers around 3:30 AM EDT, in Pinellas County between 8-9 AM EDT, and at Cedar Key just before noon. The surge into Tampa Bay was one to two hours later than the surge along the coast. Southwest Facing beaches along the Gulf of Mexico received average wave heights of 5 to 7 feet with occasional waves of 10 feet. Damage amounts listed occurred in Manatee, Pinellas, and Levy counties only and were a mix of beach erosion, flooded homes, and damage to marinas.Lee County: Fort Myers - Storm Surge 3.08 feet at 3:36 AM EDT, Storm Tide 3.20 feet at 4:54 AM EDT Minor beach erosion was reported. Charlotte County: Stump Pass Beach - Storm Surge estimated at 3 feet around 5 AM EDT. The surge and high surf from Hurricane Dennis delayed beach restoration projects and ate up 15 feet of beach and may have destroyed up to 80 percent of the area's sea turtle nests. A monetary amount regarding beach damage was not available. Sarasota County: Venice - Estimated Storm Surge 2.00 feet at 7:12 AM EDT Battering waves and high water on the 10th washed out part of a paved road at Turtle Beach Park and destroyed an 8-inch water main serving two condominiums in the area. Longboat Key suffered serious erosion and lost part of a $21 M beach restoration project that began in June. A monetary amount regarding beach damage was not available. Manatee County: Port Manatee - Storm Surge 2.87 feet at 8:36 AM EDT, Storm Tide 4.09 feet at 8:36 AM EDT Battering waves took 20 percent of the shoreline on parts of Anna Maria Island while other areas on the island gained sand. Damage was estimated at $1.75 million to replace 250,000 yards of sand from Anna Maria Island to Manatee Beach. Roughly 140 people evacuated to a shelter during the storm. Hillsborough County: McKay Bay - Storm Surge 3.39 feet at 9:54 AM EDT, Storm Tide 4.84 feet at 9:54 AM EDT Old Port of Tampa - Storm Surge 3.20 feet at 9:36 AM EDT, Storm Tide 4.63 feet at 9:36 AM EDT Tampa police closed a flooded portion of Bayshore Boulevard Sunday as the sea spray washed through the railing and accumulated on the road. No significant damage was reported. Pinellas County: Clearwater - Storm Surge 3.88 feet at 7:48 AM EDT, Storm Tide 5.15 feet at 7:48 AM EDT St. Petersburg - Storm Surge 3.19 feet at 8:54 AM EDT, Storm Tide 4.55 feet at 8:24 PM EDT A marina in St Petersburg suffered at least $2 million in damage as heavy winds and waves broke apart floating boat docks. About 45 of the 50 vessels made it out of the marina safely but a 64 foot yacht sank as it tried to dock at a nearby marina and six other boats received minor damage. Several neighborhoods and a few homes were flooded, including most streets in Madeira Beach and Redington Beach that face Boca Ciega Bay. Only 274 people heeded the recommendation to evacuate mobile homes and low lying areas. Major beach erosion was noted at Pass-a-Grille where 40 feet of the 100 feet beach was lost. Other areas with minor to major beach erosion included areas around Sand Key, Redington Beach and Redington Shores. Dennis destroyed 60 of 71 turtle nests on the beaches in the county. Hernando County: Coastal flooding came up to the sea wall with wave action topping the wall. Three homes had minor damage in the coastal area of Spring Hill. Citrus County: Fort Island Trail Beach west of Crystal River was overwashed due to the 3 foot above normal tides and one home in Ozella reported water damage. Levy County: Cedar Key - Storm Surge 4.81 feet at 11:12 AM EDT, Storm Tide 7.79 feet at 1:54 PM EDT About 3 feet of water covered State Road 23 west of the #4 Bridge and the airport and numerous roads were closed in Cedar Key due to the above normal tides. Yankeetown streets were covered with 10 inches of water and County Road 40A west of the city was closed due to water on the road. Moderate beach erosion was reported on Cedar Key. Water damage at Cedar Key was limited to 20 business and $500 thousand.

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 Jul 10, 1:42 AM EST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 1:42 AM EST, 54 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 9, 5:01 AM EST, 21 hours 35 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
601 AM EDT SAT JUL 9 2005

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-091200-
CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-
LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER-
601 AM EDT SAT JUL 9 2005

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

...TORNADO WATCH 626 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EDT FOR MANATEE...
   SARASOTA...HARDEE...DESOTO...HIGHLANDS...CHARLOTTE AND LEE
  COUNTIES...
...TROPICAL STORM WARNING FROM BONITA BEACH TO SUWANNEE RIVER...
...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TODAY UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY FOR SUMTER
   POLK...HARDEE AND HIGHLANDS COUNTIES.
...FLOOD WATCH 8 AM TODAY UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY ALL ZONES.

OUTER RAINBANDS ON THE PERIPHERY OF HURRICANE DENNIS MOVING NORTHWEST
OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO IS NOW AFFECTING PORTIONS OF WEST
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FROM SARASOTA SOUTH TO THE
FORT MYERS AREA. THESE RAIN BANDS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH...
OVERSPREADING THE REMAINDER OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH THE
DAY.

SQUALLY WINDS UP TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE AND VERY HEAVY RAINS WILL
ACCOMPANY THESE BANDS AS MOVE INTO THE REGION. THESE RAINS WILL
PRODUCE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...AND WILL
CAUSE AREA RIVERS TO BE ON THE RISE. IN ADDITION TO THE RAINS
WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE ADJACENT GULF WATERS TO TROPICAL STORM
FORCE WITH GUSTS UP TO HURRICANE STRENGTH OVER THE OFFSHORE WATERS
LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

FURTHER INLAND WINDS WILL INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 25 MPH RANGE WITH
GUST UP TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE. THESE WINDS WILL CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS
TO BE BLOWN AROUND...SO RESIDENTS SHOULD BRING IN ANY
OUTDOOR OBJECTS...SUCH AS LAWN FURNITURE AND TRASH CANS...AS THESE
OBJECTS CAN BE PROJECTILES IN THE STRONG WIND.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HURRICANE DENNIS...PLEASE REFER TO
LATEST HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE HERE IN RUSKIN.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
UPDATES.

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

CONDITIONS WILL SLOWLY IMPROVE ON SUNDAY AS DENNIS MOVES FURTHER
NORTH. HOWEVER WIND AND SEAS WILL REMAIN QUITE HIGH OVER THE
ADJACENT GULF WATERS...WITH THE THREAT OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA
BEACHES. DURING MUCH OF NEXT WEEK SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL
PERSIST EACH DAY THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH THE MAIN HAZARDS BEING
LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED THROUGH TONIGHT.

&&

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

JCM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 9, 9:09 PM EST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 storm surge/tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Storm Surge/Tide, Lee

When
July 10, 2:36 AM EST
Where
Lee forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Charlotte

When
July 10, 4:45 AM EST
Where
Charlotte forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Sarasota

When
July 10, 6:12 AM EST
Where
Sarasota forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Manatee

When
July 10, 6:40 AM EST
Where
Manatee forecast zone
Property damage
$1.8 million
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Pinellas

When
July 10, 6:48 AM EST
Where
Pinellas forecast zone
Property damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm Surge/Tide, Pasco

When
July 10, 7:30 AM EST
Where
Pasco forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Hernando

When
July 10, 8:30 AM EST to 9:15 AM EST
Where
Hernando forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Hillsborough

When
July 10, 8:54 AM EST
Where
Hillsborough forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Citrus

When
July 10, 9:15 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Citrus forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Levy

When
July 10, 10:12 AM EST
Where
Levy forecast zone
Property damage
$500,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Storm Surge/Tide
Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 2005The 2005 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5463531, 5463527, 5463536, 5463533, 5463535, 5463534, 5463529, 5463530, 5463528, 5463532.