Thunderstorm Wind, Hillsborough
- When
- March 14, 12:42 PM EST to 12:45 PM EST
- Where
- Hillsborough County, 4 mi NNW of Tampa
- Measured
- 57 kt (66 mph) estimated gust
- Property damage
- $60,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 28.033, -82.483
Damaging Wind in Florida, March 14, 2005
5 mile path. Damage included a few roofs peeled back, windows blown out of at least one business, dozens of trees and large limbs blown down, and at least a dozen power wires and transformers blown down.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $60,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 thunderstorm microburst crashed down on Seminole Heights and caused widespread but relatively minor damage along the 1.5 mile path. Damage included a few roofs peeled back, windows blown out of at least one business, dozens of trees and large limbs blown down, and at least a dozen power wires and transformers blown down. About 2000 residents were without power shortly after the storm passed. All this was done in only a minute's time in any given location.Winds were estimated at 65 mph in the heaviest damage area. Severe (58 mph estimated wind) damage began around the intersection of Henry and Ithmar Avenue, along and just north of the Hillsborough River. The damage intensified in a Park just west of Ola Avenue, where at least 10 pine trees were blown down or uprooted. A large oak tree had many limbs downed onto a home on Henry Avenue just north of the park. Actual structural damage to residences was minor, including fascia and a few shingles.As the burst crossed out of the neighborhood and into the commercial zone including north Florida and Hillsborough Avenue, damage increased a bit. One business on N. Florida Avenue had its windows blown out, followed by water damage inside. A bit farther east, on N. Central Ave, a fallen oak smashed three vehicles in a church parking lot. Damage continued sporadically after the storm crossed interstate 275, with a placard blown out at a tire store and took out a portion of the aluminum roof.
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 Mar 14, 2:35 AM EST, 10 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 2:35 AM EST, 10 hours 7 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 235 AM EST MON MAR 14 2005 .SHORT TERM (TODAY-WED)...WEAK SHORT WAVE WILL SLIDE BY TO THE NORTH OF THE REGION TODAY AND WITH INCREASED MOISTURE COULD SEE SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS ACROSS THE NATURE COAST. OTHERWISE...PARTLY SUNNY SKIES SHOULD PREVAIL WITH TEMPERATURES CLIMBING INTO THE LOWER 80S INLAND...BUT REMAINING IN THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S ALONG THE GULF COAST AS SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW OFF GULF OF MEXICO KEEPS COASTAL AREAS COOLER. TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...MODELS INDICATING VERY DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS WITH RESPECT TO WEAKENING COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST U.S. GFS HAS BEEN RATHER CONSISTENT IN INDICATING THAT BOUNDARY OR AT LEAST WIND SHIFT WILL MAKE IT INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA WHILE NAM KEEPS IT ALONG FLORIDA/GEORGIA BORDER. DONT THINK THE ACTUAL BOUNDARY WILL MAKE IT INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA...BUT DO THINK THAT HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRIDGE THE FRONT AND SHIFT LOW LEVEL WINDS TO A MORE EASTERLY DIRECTION. HOWEVER...FLOW WILL REMAIN RATHER LIGHT SO EXPECT AN AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE AND WITH MOISTURE IN PLACE COULD SEE A FEW AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WILL LEAVE CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECAST FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ZONES AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL WITH A WIDE RANGE FROM COAST TO INLAND AREAS CONTINUING. TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DEEPENS OVER SOUTHWEST U.S. WITH LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING IN THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND MOVING EAST ALONG STALLED OUT FRONTAL BOUNDARY. DEEP MOISTURE WILL BE PULLED UP AHEAD OF DEVELOPING LOW LEADING TO LIKELY POPS CLOSE TO THE BOUNDARY ACROSS THE NATURE COAST AND CHANCE POPS ELSEWHERE. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL. .LONG TERM (TUE NGT-SAT)...BOUNDARY BETWEEN COLD AND WARM AIR HANGS RIGHT AROUND THE AREA THROUGH THE PERIOD. IF THE BOUNDARY GETS SOUTH OF THE AREA...WELL HAVE NORTHERLY WINDS AND A MUCH COOLER FORECAST...OTHERWISE WELL HAVE A WARMER FORECAST. GUIDANCE INDICATES A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES PASSING NORTH OF THE AREA...BUT MODELS DIFFER ON THE WHERE AND WHEN OF FRONTAL PASSAGE(S). PREVIOUS THINKING HAD COLDEST TEMPERATURES AT THE END OF THE PERIOD...THIS COMING WEEKEND. WILL GO WITH A MORE OPTIMISTIC FORECAST...AND TREND TEMPERATURES UP AS THINK COLDEST AIR WILL HAVE A TOUGH TIME MAKING IT SOUTH INTO THE FORECAST AREA. SHOULD THE BOUNDARY MAKE IT EVEN INTO NORTH FLORIDA...TEMPERATURES COULD BE AS MUCH AS 10 DEGREES COLDER THAN FORECAST. WITH POTENTIAL FOR WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT AT ANY TIME...CAN NOT RULE OUT PRECIPITATION AT ANY POINT...AT LEAST UNTIL EITHER MODEL GUIDANCE BECOMES MORE UNIFORM OR A STRONGER SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA AND CLEARS OUT THE BOUNDARY. CURRENT GFS HAS LIKELY POPS ON THURSDAY. BECAUSE OF UNCERTAINTY...WILL KEEP AT HIGH END SCATTERED POPS AS IN PREVIOUS FORECAST. BEYOND THURSDAY...CLIMO HAS 15 TO 20 POPS EACH DAY...AND WITH BOUNDARY POTENTIALLY HANGING CLOSE TO THE FORECAST AREA...WILL PUT IN AT LEAST 10 POPS EACH DAY. && .MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS WILL REMAIN BELOW FLAG CRITERIA THROUGH TUESDAY THEN BEGIN TO INCREASE AS SYSTEM MOVES IN FROM THE WEST ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. EXACT TIMING AND INTENSITY REMAIN UNCERTAIN...BUT SHOULD BE A PERIOD OF CAUTION...PERHAPS ADVISORY... WINDS SOMETIME BETWEEN TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO HIGHLIGHTS NEXT FEW DAYS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 78 66 79 67 / 00 00 30 20 FMY 81 65 83 65 / 00 00 20 20 GIF 82 65 82 65 / 00 00 30 20 SRQ 76 64 77 66 / 00 00 20 20 BKV 80 61 82 63 / 20 00 40 20 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...PRC LONG TERM....RJS
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 14, 5:31 AM EST, 7 hours 11 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 531 AM EST MON MAR 14 2005 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-141430- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 531 AM EST MON MAR 14 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE NATURE COAST TODAY. ONE OR TWO OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME STRONG WITH BRIEF GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. OTHERWISE...AREAS OF FOG ARE EXPECTED EARLY THIS MORNING AND AGAIN LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY MORNING...AND SOME OF THIS FOG COULD BE LOCALLY DENSE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND WEDNESDAY ACROSS THE REGION WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. OTHERWISE...NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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) PRC
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 14, 10:23 AM EST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1023 AM EST MON MAR 14 2005 FLZ048-049-141615- HERNANDO-PASCO- 1023 AM EST MON MAR 14 2005 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT HERNANDO AND PASCO COUNTIES... THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH...WILL AFFECT PORT RICHEY... NEW PORT RICHEY...JASMINE ESTATES AND HUDSON...UNTIL 1115 AM EST. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE PEA SIZE HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. EJ
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:42 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, March 14 to 15, 2005
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, March 14 to 15, 2005
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, March 14 to 15, 2005
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 14 to 15, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 14, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, March 14, 2005
- Hail in Georgia, March 14, 2005
- Hail in Georgia, March 14, 2005
- Hail in Georgia, March 14, 2005
- Hail in Georgia, March 14, 2005
- Hail in Georgia, March 14, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 14, 2005
More
Every storm in Florida in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, March 2005
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: 5439382.