A trough of low pressure was in place across the southern half of the area with upper impulses moving over the area. Numerous showers and scattered thunderstorms formed and moved over the area in this unstable environment.
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.
A trough of low pressure was in place across the southern half of the area with upper impulses moving over the area. Numerous showers and scattered thunderstorms formed and moved over the area in this unstable environment.
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 30, 12:18 PM EST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 118 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 2008 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-THURSDAY)...MODERATE RAINFALL...CLOUD COVER...AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH AN AREA OF WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE SOUTHWEST COAST CONTINUE TO TRACK TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON. THE STRONGEST CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO TRACK ONSHORE SOUTH OF BONITA SPRINGS IN COLLIER COUNTY...WHILE MODERATE TO SOMETIMES HEAVY RAINFALL IMPACTS MUCH OF CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTIES. THIS RAINFALL WILL EXACERBATE THE ALREADY SATURATED CONDITIONS DUE TO RECENT RAINFALL...AND A FLOOD ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH 3PM. PRECIPITATION COVERAGE IS WANING QUICKLY BEHIND THE LOW...AND DRY AIR WILL FILTER IN QUICKLY. DRY AIR ASSOCIATED WITH AN EARLY SEASON TROUGH WILL AFFECT THE REGION THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT - TUESDAY)...VERY FEW CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE ONGOING EXTENDED FORECAST. THE EASTERN U.S. UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH WILL FLATTEN AND LIFT NORTHWARD THROUGH THE PERIOD ALLOWING 500MB HEIGHTS TO RECOVER. MODELS DIFFER ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE SURFACE PATTERN DURING THIS TIME...BUT WITH EASTERLY FLOW RETURNING...WE SHOULD SEE A GRADUAL INCREASE IN LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE WITH SHOWER CHANCES INCREASING EACH DAY. AS THE NEXT UPPER-TROUGH MOVES EASTWARD ACROSS THE MID-SECTION OF THE COUNTRY...DEEPER MOISTURE IS PULLED NORTHWARD OVER THE STATE. THIS WILL BRING 2 INCH PRECIPITABLE WATERS BACK TO OUR AREA...RESULTING IN A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...THE MAIN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD PASS SOUTH OF FMY AND RSW THIS AFTERNOON...WITH MAINLY STEADY LIGHT RAIN FOR A FEW HOURS. EXPECT MVFR CEILINGS OF AROUND 2000 FEET WITH 5 TO 6 MILES VISIBILITIES UNTIL THE RAIN CLEARS. OTHERWISE...SHOWERS AND A FEW STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON THE EDGE OF THE DRY AIR NEAR TPA AND SRQ... BUT SHOULD REMAIN MAINLY EAST OF THE TERMINALS. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS EVERYWHERE BY 00Z. && .MARINE...COASTAL WATERS FROM BONITA SPRINGS TO CHARLOTTE HARBOR...AND AREAS OFF SHORE WILL BE IMPACTED BY MODERATE RAINFALL WINDS OF AROUND 15 KNOTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS...AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MID AFTERNOON TODAY. DRY AIR WILL FILTER IN OVERNIGHT AS A SURFACE BOUNDARY SLIDES SOUTH OF FLORIDA. WINDS AND WAVES WILL NOT POSE A HAZARD THROUGH AT LEAST THE END OF THE WEEK. && .FIRE WEATHER...A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL HELP PUSH THE MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA WELL TO THE SOUTH BEGINNING OVERNIGHT AND LASTING THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A FEW DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE AND DEW POINTS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE 50S. CURRENTLY CRITICAL CONDITIONS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED...HOWEVER...AN HOUR OR TWO OF CRITICAL RH VALUES ARE POSSIBLE FROM HERNANDO COUNTY NORTHWARD THURSDAY AFTERNOON. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 72 87 68 84 / 0 0 0 0 FMY 70 87 69 86 / 20 0 0 0 GIF 69 88 66 86 / 10 0 0 0 SRQ 70 86 69 84 / 10 0 0 0 BKV 65 87 59 82 / 0 0 0 0 SPG 73 86 72 84 / 0 0 0 0 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...FLOOD ADVISORY FOR LEE AND CHARLOTTE COUNTIES THROUGH 3 PM EDT. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...CANTIN LONG TERM/AVIATION...JILLSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 530 AM EDT TUE SEP 30 2008 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-301600- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 530 AM EDT TUE SEP 30 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO WILL MOVE EAST NORTHEAST ALONG A BOUNDARY ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA TODAY AND INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN TONIGHT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION TODAY WITH THE BEST CHANCE SOUTH OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA. THE MAIN THREATS FROM ANY STORMS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ...FIRE WEATHER IMPACT... DRIER AIR WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE REGION ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL WILL RESULT IN LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES AND A HIGH FIRE WEATHER DANGER THURSDAY AFTERNOON NORTH OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE OVER THE WEEKEND AND THIS COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND THE SEA BREEZES WILL CAUSE SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREATS FROM ANY STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. PRC
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a pine tree in the Fort Myers Villas neighborhood. The strike scorched the tree and scattered debris over fifty feet away, breaking windows on at least five nearby homes.
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: 129924.