An afternoon sea breeze formed along the coast and combined with the warm and moist environment to allow scattered thunderstorms to develop.
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 episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
An afternoon sea breeze formed along the coast and combined with the warm and moist environment to allow scattered thunderstorms to develop.
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 17, 12:36 PM EST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 136 PM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 CORRECTED TO REMOVE TYPO FROM FIRE WEATHER SECTION .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - FRIDAY)...WEAK SFC FRONT ACROSS THE REGION WILL PUSH SOUTH AND EAST INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC TONIGHT AS ATTENDANT MID LEVEL TROF PASSES OFF THE SE COAST. HIGH PRESSURE WILL FOLLOW...WITH FL BEING ON THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVING FROM THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES TONIGHT TO THE NORTHEAST STATES BY FRIDAY. DRIER AIR NOTED ON WATER VAPOR BEHIND THE AFOREMENTIONED TROF WILL BEGIN TO MOVE INTO N FL TONIGHT AND ACROSS MOST OF OUR AREA ON THURSDAY. HOWEVER...ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL PERSIST TO WARRANT A LOW-CHANCE POP FOR SHALLOW SEA BREEZE INITIATED CONVECTION THURSDAY AFTERNOON. ON FRIDAY...DRY AIR IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS WILL BEGIN TO BE SLOWLY REPLACED BY MOISTURE AS FLOW IN THOSE LAYERS SHIFTS FROM NW BACK TO SW. LIKE THURSDAY...ADEQUATE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE PRESENT TO WARRANT CHANCE POPS FOR SCAT AFTERNOON TSTM ACTIVITY. ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT WITH NE LOW LEVEL PROGGED TO DEVELOP TONIGHT AND PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...WE MAY SEE SOME PATCHY LOW CLOUDS AND FOG TOMORROW AND FRIDAY MORNING. OTHERWISE...TEMPS THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL CONTINUE TO BE NEAR NORMAL. && .LONG TERM (FRIDAY NIGHT - WEDNESDAY)...UPPER LEVEL TROUGHINESS OVER THE EASTERN 1/3 OF THE NATION LIFTS UP INTO THE NE U.S. AND SE CANADA AS A RIDGE OVER THE ATLANTIC BUILDS ACROSS FL TO THE GULF THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD. THE REMNANTS OF AN OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA THROUGH WED WITH A SWATH OF HIGHER MOISTURE OVER MUCH OF THE CWFA. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE MID- ATLANTIC COAST WILL RIDGE DOWN THE EASTERN SEA BOARD AS THE DOMINATE PROVIDER OF NE AND EAST FLOW. ALTHOUGH THE GRADIENT WILL BE LIGHT ENOUGH TO ALLOW ONSHORE WINDS IN AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES. THESE WILL BE A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM FORMATION...AND WITH A MOIST AIR MASS IN PLACE...WHICH WILL BE SCATTERED DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND THEN TREND DOWN TO ISOLATED IN THE EVENINGS. TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM NEAR 70 NORTH AND LOWER-MID 70S CENTRAL/SOUTH FOR OVERNIGHT LOWS TO THE UPPER 80S FOR DAY TIME HIGHS. TWO AREAS OF POSSIBLE CONCERN ARE...LOW PRESSURE IN THE BAY OF CAMPECHE WHICH MAY LIFT NORTH TOWARD TX...AND AN INVERTED TROUGH APPROACHING FL MERGING INTO THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER THE ATLANTIC. DO NOT ANTICIPATE THESE HAVING AN IMPACT ON THE AREA BUT WILL KEEP TRACK OF THEM. && .AVIATION (17/18Z - 18/18Z)...VFR AS WINDS BEGIN TO SHIFT TO ONSHORE...TENDING TO PUSH CONVECTION AWAY FROM COASTAL AIRPORTS WHERE JUST VCTS IS IN PLACE. AN EXCEPTION WILL BE IN THE FAR SOUTH WHERE THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE ALONG WITH A DEVELOPING NE TO EAST LOW LEVEL FLOW COULD PUSH CONVECTION BACK TOWARD KFMY/KRSW LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING WITH TEMPO MVFR VSBYS/CIGS. VFR TO PREVAIL OVERNIGHT ALTHOUGH INLAND AIRPORTS COULD SEE SOME PATCHY FOG AROUND S/R. && .MARINE...WEAK PRES GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT LIGHT WINDS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. BY LATE THURSDAY...PRES GRAD WILL TIGHTEN ACROSS OUR WATERS AS HIGH PRES MOVES BY TO OUR NORTH. AS SUCH... WERE NOW EXPECTING E-NE WINDS TO INCREASE TO AT LEAST 10-15 KTS THURSDAY NIGHT AND PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY. GFS EVEN SUGGESTING SOME GUSTS IN THE 15-20KT RANGE AT TIMES FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT FROM TAMPA BAY NORTHWARD AND OFFSHORE. WILL MONITOR TRENDS CLOSELY...BUT FOR NOW WILL KEEP CONDITIONS BELOW HEADLINE CRITERIA. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO HEADLINES OR HIGHLIGHTS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 73 89 72 88 / 30 30 20 30 FMY 73 91 73 90 / 30 40 20 30 GIF 71 90 72 88 / 30 40 20 30 SRQ 74 90 72 88 / 30 30 20 30 BKV 70 88 69 87 / 30 30 20 30 SPG 74 88 75 87 / 30 30 20 30 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...NP LONG TERM/AVIATION...RKR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 445 AM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-172000- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 445 AM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM ALONG SEA BREEZE CIRCULATIONS AND COLLISION POINTS. SOUTHWEST WINDS IN THE MID LEVELS WILL FOCUS THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER INTERIOR LOCATIONS. GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAINFALL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE THE GREATEST THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. CANTIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 149 PM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 FLZ042-171815- CITRUS- 149 PM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CENTRAL CITRUS COUNTY... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 9 MPH...WILL AFFECT BEVERLY HILLS AND LECANTO...UNTIL 215 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. TO BE SAFE GO INDOORS IMMEDIATELY IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...CROUCH DOWN IN A LOW SPOT...AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE PEA SIZE HAIL. RJS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported 3.63 inches of rain falling in one hour in Citrus Park and causing minor street flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2008
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: 133582.