High pressure ridging across the area allowed for afternoon and evening thunderstorms to develop along sea breeze and outflow boundaries causing strong gusty winds and numerous lightning strikes.
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.
High pressure ridging across the area allowed for afternoon and evening thunderstorms to develop along sea breeze and outflow boundaries causing strong gusty winds and numerous lightning strikes.
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 Aug 7, 12:33 PM EST, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 133 PM EDT FRI AUG 7 2009 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-SUNDAY)...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO PUSH OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST AS A BROAD RIDGE OVER TEXAS BUILDS EAST IN THE TROUGHS WAKE. AT THE SURFACE...A WEAK SFC TROUGH IS MOVING NORTHWEST THROUGH THE NORTH CENTRAL GOMEX. BEHIND THIS TROUGH PLENTY OF CLOUDS WITH A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FROM OUR OFF SHORE COASTAL WATERS TO OUR INTERIOR COUNTIES. THIS EXCESS CLOUD COVER IS HELPING TO KEEP OUR DAILY MAX TEMPS DOWN THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE HAVING A TOUGH TIME GETTING SEA BREEZE CONVECTION STARTED ALONG THE COAST. THE SOUNDING THIS MORNING CAME IN RELATIVELY UNSTABLE SO STILL EXPECTING SOME STORMS THIS AFTERNOON IF ENOUGH BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER CAN HELP BUMP TEMPS UP A COUPLE DEGREES AREAWIDE. STILL FEEL THAT THE NATURE COAST COULD SEE THE BEST COVERAGE AS DEEP MOISTURE FROM THE GULF CONTINUES TO BE DRAWN TO THE NORTHWEST. BY TOMORROW...THE BROAD UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER TEXAS BEGINS TO BUILD IN OVER THE SOUTHEAST. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC DRIFTS FURTHER WEST WHILE THE RIDGE AXIS MIGRATES OVER THE PANHANDLE. HAVE DECIDED TO LOWER POPS BY 10 PERCENT OVER LAND GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE APPEAR TO GOING INTO A DEEP RIDGING PATTERN. ENOUGH MOISTURE SEEMS TO LINGER OVER THE AREA SO STILL EXPECT SOME SEA BREEZE CONVECTION TO DEVELOP IN THE AFTERNOON ALONG THE COAST AND DRIFT INLAND NEAR THE I 75 CORRIDOR. FOR SUNDAY...SAME BASIC PATTERN OVER THE REGION WILL HELP KEEP CONVECTION LIMITED TO THE POSITION OF THE SEA BREEZE. PRESSURE GRADIENT APPEARS TO TIGHTEN SLIGHTLY THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING SO SEA BREEZE CONVECTION MAY HAVE A HARDER TIME DRIFTING EAST OF I 75. WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN...EXPECTING DAY MAX TEMPS TO CLIMB SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO FOR AREAS OUTSIDE OF PERSISTENT CONVECTION. .LONG TERM...EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT. EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD ON SUNDAY WILL BEGIN WITH A STRONG H5 RIDGE CENTERED ATOP THE SOUTHEASTERN CONUS. THE RIDGE WILL UNDERGO A SOUTHWARD SUPPRESSION AND WEAKENING AS A STRONG TROUGH SLIDES ACROSS THE MIDWEST. BY MONDAY NIGHT THE RIDGE WILL HAVE WEAKENED BY SEVERAL DM AND H5 HEIGHT TRENDS SHOW A STEADY FALL THROUGH MID WEEK. THE SURFACE RIDGE AXIS WILL ALSO GRADUALLY SLIDE SOUTH AND WILL FAVOR A SOUTHEASTERLY SYNOPTIC FLOW ACROSS THE CENTRAL PENINSULA. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME PATTERN THAT FAVORS SEA BREEZE COLLISIONS AND ASSOCIATED TSTM DEVELOPMENT. EARLIER FORECAST POPS HANDLED THIS WELL SO WILL NOT CHANGE THE IDEA OF HIGHEST POPS IN THE CLIMATOLOGICALLY FAVORED REGIONS FOR BOUNDARY COLLISION ALONG AND WEST OF I-75. MESOSCALE FEATURES SHOULD ALSO GUIDE STORM CHANCES AS THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN REMAINS WEAK UNDER THE EXPANSIVE RIDGE. TEMPERATURES IN THE EXTENDED WILL FAVOR CLIMATOLOGY AS PREVIOUS FORECAST INDICATED. ALMOST NO AIRMASS CHANGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IN PLACE AND H8 TEMPS RUNNING +16 TO +18C WHICH WILL FAVOR HIGHS IN THE LOW TO MID 90S COASTAL AREAS AND MID TO UPPER 90S INLAND. MESOSCALE FEATURES WILL CONTINUE TO CONTROL DAILY MAX TEMPERATURES WITH WEAK SYNOPTICS FAVORING MORE EXTENSIVE SEA BREEZE COVERAGE. NIGHTTIME LOWS IN THE MIDDLE 70S GENERALLY AS DEWPOINTS WILL REMAIN HIGH. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS LOOK LIKELY TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS TAF PERIOD. STORM DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN QUITE SCATTERED THIS AFTERNOON AS THE EXPANSIVE MID AND UPPER CLOUDS HAMPERED DEVELOPMENT. WILL EXPECT STORM COVERAGE TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON WITH SUN BREAKING OUT. STILL WILL HANDLE WITH CB OR VCTS SINCE COVERAGE IS WIDELY SCATTERED. STORMS SHOULD DISSIPATE IN THE 01-03Z WINDOW WITH SKIES REMAINING BKN WITH MID LEVEL CLOUDS. WINDS LIGHT AND VARIABLE WITH DAILY SEABREEZE EXPECTED. && .MARINE...UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL BUILD OVER THE SOUTHEAST BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON AS THE SURFACE RIDGE AXIS SETTLES IN OVER THE PANHANDLE. THE DEEP RIDGING WILL HELP REDUCE OVERALL STORM COVERAGE OVER THE GULF WATERS. WEAK EAST SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST WITH AN AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE CIRCULATION THROUGH TOMORROW. FLOW WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE TO 10-13 KT IN THE OFF SHORE WATERS BY SUNDAY AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS OVER THE EASTERN GULF. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO FIRE WX CONCERNS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 78 93 76 92 / 20 40 20 40 FMY 76 95 75 94 / 20 40 20 40 GIF 76 95 74 94 / 20 30 20 30 SRQ 76 93 75 91 / 20 40 20 40 BKV 73 95 72 93 / 20 40 20 40 SPG 80 92 78 91 / 20 40 20 40 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...20/BARRON LONG TERM/AVIATION...35/JOHNSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 437 AM EDT FRI AUG 7 2009 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-072045- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 437 AM EDT FRI AUG 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... EXPECT LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN TODAY WITH PERIODS OF NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NATURE COAST COUNTIES. MAIN HAZARDS WILL BE STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS... FREQUENT DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND LOCALIZED FLOODING WITH THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOURS. REMEMBER...WHEN THUNDER ROARS GO INDOORS. WAIT AT LEAST 30 MINUTES AFTER THE LAST RUMBLE WAS HEARD BEFORE GOING BACK OUTSIDE. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT IMPACT... HIGH HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 100 TO 105 DEGREES TODAY...MAINLY OVER INTERIOR AND SOUTHERN AREAS. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER...BEFORE YOU GET THIRSTY. WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT AND LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING. RESERVE STRENUOUS EXERCISE FOR EARLY MORNING OR EVENING HOURS. STAY NEAR AIR CONDITIONED LOCATIONS IF POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE EACH DAY BRINGING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. REYNES
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:11 UTC.
3 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Gusty winds estimated at 50mph caused damage to a carport.
Lightning struck a Toys R Us store and caused minor damage.
Lightning struck an apartment building causing minor damage.
Lightning struck the Delacado Resort on Sunset Beach and caused minor damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2009
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: 191800, 191794, 191798, 191799.