Tropical Storm in Florida, July 9, 2005

Name: Tropical Storm in Florida, July 9, 2005
Start: 2005-07-09T05:44
End: 2005-07-09T23:00
Location: Florida

July 9, 2005 · NWS TBW · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

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: $32,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 Dennis developed in the eastern Caribbean on the 5th and moved northwest and exited the northwest coast of Cuba early on the 9th. The center of Hurricane Dennis passed 220 miles east of Fort Myers Beach around 9 PM EDT on the 9th and passed 200 miles east of Cedar Key around 10 AM EDT on the 10th. Tropical storm force sustained winds of 39 MPH or greater were intermittent within rain bands around Dennis. These bands did produce 7 tornadoes and 1 waterspout in southwest and west central Florida. No significant wind damage was reported. The maximum storm surge of 3 feet did not affect the area until Sunday the 10th around 4 AM EDT. The surge caused moderate beach erosion and destroyed up to 80 percent of the sea turtle nests. Seas were 5 to 7 feet with some waves up to 10 feet. Four to six inches of rain fell near Punta Gorda and Fort Myers but no significant flood damage was reported. In Lee County, maximum winds were estimated at 40 MPH with gusts to 50 MPH along Sanibel Island. No significant damage was reported.In Charlotte County, maximum winds at the Punta Gorda airport were measured at 40 MPH with gusts to 50 MPH. Three Cape Coral residents drowned around 11 PM EDT on the 10th when their Sports Utility Vehicle overturned into a ditch filled with rainwater near the intersection of Bermont Road (SR 74) and Ronco Road. The road was covered with 6 inches of water and caused the vehicle to hydroplane into a ditch where it flipped upside down. The victims were still wearing their seat belts when found. Two other vehicles hydroplaned into a ditch in the same area but they managed to get out of their vehicles without injury.In Sarasota and Manatee counties sustained winds remained 3-5 knots below tropical storm force.In Hillsborugh County, a maximum wind gust of 55 MPH was recorded in Temple Terrace from a home weather station 100 feet above the ground on a condominium. The gusty winds broke off a 1000 pound church steeple near Hyde Park in Tampa. In Pinellas County, maximum winds were recorded at 44 MPH with gusts to 58 MPH at the Saint Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport. There was one minor injury as a pickup drove off a downslope of the Howard Frankland Bridge about 1 PM Sunday as the driver overcompensated when a strong gust of wind pushed him into the left hand lane.In Pasco County sustained winds remained 5 knots below tropical storm force. In Citrus County, winds estimated at 40 MPH with gusts to 55 MPH 4 miles northeast of Crystal River downed several large trees and caused minor damage to a metal roof. The estimated damage was $1,500. In Levy County, Cedar Key recorded sustained winds of 40 MPH with gusts to 46 MPH. Damage of $500 thousand on Cedar Key was related to surge flooding and not wind damge. A spotter in Cheifland recorded wind gusts to 56 MPH using his handheld anemometer.

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 9, 3:45 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 3:45 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
445 AM EDT SAT JUL 9 2005

.UPDATE...WILL UPDATE ZONES AND COASTALS TO UPGRADE THE TROPICAL
STORM WATCH FROM ANCLOTE KEY TO SUWANNEE RIVER TO A TROPICAL STORM
WARNING AS PER LATEST TPC ADVISORY.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS WITH UPDATED W/W/A SECTION...

.SHORT TERM (TODAY - MONDAY)...OUTER FEEDER BANDS CONTINUE TO MOVE
RAPIDLY NORTHWEST ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA EARLY
THIS MORNING WELL AHEAD OF HURRICANE DENNIS WHICH HAS NOW JUST
EMERGED OFF THE NORTH COAST OF CUBA. AS DENNIS CONTINUES TO MOVE
NORTHWEST OVER THE ADJACENT GULF WATERS INCREASING SHEAR WITHIN THE
ATMOSPHERE WILL SUPPORT SMALL SHORT LIVED TORNADOES WITHIN THESE
BANDS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY AS THE FAVORABLE RIGHT
FRONT QUADRANT OF DENNIS MOVES OVER THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT.

MODEL CONSENSUS AND OFFICIAL TPC TRACK KEEPS DENNIS ROUGHLY 200 MILES
TO THE WEST OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA...WHICH SHOULD KEEP THE WORSE
CONDITIONS CONFINED TO THE COASTAL WATERS...HOWEVER WITH THE FORECAST
AREA ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF DENNIS (STRONGEST SIDE) STRONG SQUALLS
WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH
ARE LIKELY TO IMPACT COASTAL COUNTIES FROM LEE COUNTY NORTH TO PASCO
COUNTY TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...WITH THESE CONDITIONS SPREADING NORTH
TO MY NORTHERN MOST ZONES THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

FURTHER INLAND WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 25 MPH
RANGE WITH GUSTS UP TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE IN SQUALLS ALONG WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINS. EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER AND HIGH RAIN CHANCES WILL
KEEP TEMPS SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL THROUGH SUNDAY.

BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL TRACK OF DENNIS BY TPC...NO CHANGES TO
THE CURRENT WATCHES/WARNINGS STATUS LISTED BELOW...BUT IF NEEDED WILL
MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN A QUICK UPDATE LATER THIS MORNING AFTER THE
NEXT ADVISORY ISSUANCE AROUND 5 AM EDT. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ON DENNIS...SEE OUR HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT (HLSTBW).

.LONG TERM (MON NIGHT - FRI)...HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE AXIS WILL FILL IN
BEHIND WHATS LEFT OF DENNIS. BY LATE TUE A SECONDARY HIGH WILL
BREAK OFF INTO THE CENTRAL GULF. FL WILL BE IN THE WEAKNESS IN
BETWEEN. MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGESTING THAT THE REMAINS OF DENNIS WILL
REMAIN OVER THE APPALACHIANS WITH GENERAL TROUGHINESS FILLING IN THE
WEAKNESS. YESTERDAY ATTM GUIDANCE HAD A RIDGING OVER CENTRAL FL BY
THE END OF THE PERIOD...SO THIS IS QUITE THE FLIP FLOP. FOR NOW THE
NEWER SOLN LOOKS MORE REASONABLE GIVEN LATEST TPC FORECAST.

EITHER WAY...WELL HAVE SCT AFTN SHOWERS AND TSTMS EACH DAY...WITH
TEMPS NEAR CLIMO EACH DAY.

&&

.MARINE...CONDITIONS OVER THE ADJACENT GULF COASTAL WATERS WILL
DETERIORATE RAPIDLY FROM SOUTH TO NORTH TODAY AS HURRICANE DENNIS
MOVES NORTHWEST INTO THE EASTERN GULF. BASED ON THE CURRENT OFFICIAL
TRACK OF DENNIS VIA TPC...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WITH GUSTS TO
HURRICANE FORCE WILL IMPACT THE OUTER COASTAL WATERS FROM BONITA
BEACH NORTH TO ENGLEWOOD BEGINNING LATER THIS MORNING...WITH THESE
CONDITIONS SPREADING FURTHER NORTH DURING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
CLOSER TO SHORE...WINDS WILL BE INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 25 KNOTS
RANGE WITH GUSTS TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE LATER THIS MORNING
THROUGH TONIGHT. INCREASING WINDS AND SEAS WILL LEAD TO COASTAL
FLOODING PROBLEMS...WITH TIDES EXPECTED TO RUN SOME 4 TO 6 FEET ABOVE
NORMAL. MARINERS ARE URGED TO REMAIN IN PORT.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...HIGH RAIN CHANCES WILL PRECLUDE ANY RED FLAG
CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...HOWEVER STRONG 20 FOOT AND
TRANSPORT WINDS WILL MAKE FOR VERY HIGH DISPERSION INDICES TODAY
THROUGH SUNDAY.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TPA 86 77 86 79/ 100 70 50 40
FMY 86 77 87 76/ 100 70 50 40
GIF 86 76 86 76/ 100 70 50 40
SRQ 86 78 86 78/ 100 70 50 40
BKV 87 77 86 78/ 100 80 60 40

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 TORNADO WATCH 626 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 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.

SHORT TERM...JCM
LONG TERM/UPDATE....RJS

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 9, 5:01 AM EST, 43 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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Tropical Storm, Pinellas

When: July 9, 5:44 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Pinellas forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tropical Storm, Lee

When: July 9, 6:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Tropical Storm, Charlotte

When: July 9, 6:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Charlotte forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Tropical Storm, Levy

When: July 9, 10:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Levy forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Tropical Storm, Hillsborough

When: July 9, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Hillsborough forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Tropical Storm, Citrus

When: July 9, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, July 2005 The 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5463539, 5463537, 5463538, 5463540, 5463542, 5463541.