A strong thunderstorms centered approximately 8 miles northwest of Key West produced a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, injuring one person near the south shore of Key West.
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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 KEY wrote it up.
A strong thunderstorms centered approximately 8 miles northwest of Key West produced a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, injuring one person near the south shore of Key West.
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 Key West, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 25, 2:53 PM EST, 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 353 PM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT SATELLITE AND RADAR DATA SHOW A LARGE CLUSTER OF CONVECTIVE CLOUDS COVERING MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA...FLORIDA KEYS...AND NORTHERN BAHAMAS. WITHIN THIS CLOUD CLUSTER ARE NUMEROUS MATURE CUMULONIMBI...SOME EXCEEDING 55000FT...WITH SCORES OF SHOWERING CUMULUS ROWS. THE ACTIVE CONVECTIVE TOWERS ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN A MATRIX OF NIMBOSTRATUS AND ALTOSTRATUS OVERLAID BY DOZENS OF OLD CUMULONIMBUS ANVILS. A COMPOSITE ANALYSIS THIS AFTERNOON SHOWS THE CLOUD CLUSTER HAVING ORIGINATED AT THE NEXUS OF A BAND OF DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE...A SYNOPTIC-SCALE ASCENT FIELD ASSOCIATED WITH A MIGRATING MID/UPPER-TROPOSPHERIC CYCLONIC VORTICITY LOBE...AND A LOW /MID-TROPOSPHERIC MESOSCALE VORTICITY CENTER CURRENTLY MOVING NORTH OVER BISCAYNE BAY. IN ADDITION...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE GROWN MORE ORGANIZED AND MORE INTENSE DURING THE DAY OWING TO AN AREA OF STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES ASSOCIATED WITH A SAHARAN AIR LAYER PLUME HAVING ADVECTED NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD OVER THE STRAITS OF FLORIDA AND KEYS SINCE THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. CURRENTLY...SEVERAL INTENSE CONVECTIVE CELLS WITH ECHO TOPS EXCEEDING 50000FT AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE DETECTED BY KEY WEST DOPPLER RADAR ALL AROUND THE KEYS. SEVERAL WATERSPOUTS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED DURING THE LAST FEW HOURS...NOT SURPRISING GIVEN THE STEEP LAPSE RATES AND POWERFUL UPDRAFTS. THE BOUNDARY LAYER SHOULD SOON BECOME WORKED OVER BY ALL THE NEGATIVELY BUOYANT AIR BEING PUMPED IN FROM ALOT BY CONVECTIVE DOWNDRAFTS. IN ADDITION...BOTH THE LARGE-SCALE AND SMALL-SCALE CYCLONIC VORTICITY CENTERS SOON WILL BE MIGRATING OUT OF THE REGION. FINALLY...MID-TROPOSPHERIC DRIER AIR IS NOT FAR AWAY TO THE SOUTH AND EAST...MOVING THIS WAY. FOR THESE REASONS...WE BELIEVE THE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE IN BOTH COVERAGE AND INTENSITY BY EARLY EVENING. GRIDS AND PUBLIC FORECAST UPDATES ARE ALREADY OUT. FOR SUNDAY AND BEYOND...THE BASIC PROGNOSTIC REASONING REMAINS UNCHANGED. ALL MODELS AND ENSEMBLE OUTPUT SUPPORT THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE SUBTROPICAL ANTICYCLONE OVER THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC WITH A RIDGE EXTENDING WESTWARD OVER THE FLORIDA PENINSULA BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE EXPANDING SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CELL WILL RESULT IN A TIGHTER MSL PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE KEYS AND STRAITS OF FLORIDA...WITH EASTERLY BREEZES EXPECTED TO FRESHEN GRADUALLY SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A NEAR-CLIMATOLOGICAL 30 PERCENT 12-HOUR MEASURABLE RAIN CHANCE WILL BE ADVERTISED FOR THESE PERIODS AFTER A FEW PERIODS OF BELOW-AVERAGE RAIN CHANCES...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. && .MARINE... LIGHT AND VARIABLE BREEZES WILL PREVAIL OUTSIDE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HOWEVER...SOME INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE AROUND UNTIL EARLY EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT CLOUD TO WATER LIGHTNING STRIKES...BLINDING DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...LOCAL GALE FORCE WIND GUSTS...AND WATERSPOUTS. CAPTAINS ARE ADVISED TO TUNE IN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST SPECIAL MARINE WARNINGS...MARINE WEATHER STATEMENTS...AND SHORT TERM FORECASTS. && .AVIATION... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING MAY RESULT IN OCCASIONAL MVFR CONDITIONS...AND BRIEF PERIODS OF IFR CONDITIONS WITH PASSING THUNDERSTORMS. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT BOTH THE KEY WEST AND MARATHON AIRPORT TERMINALS. SURFACE WINDS WILL BE LIGHT OUT OF THE SOUTH...WITH WINDS OFF THE DECK THROUGH FL050 LIGHT OUT OF THE SOUTH...VEERING TO SOUTHWEST AROUND 10 KNOTS FROM FL050 TO FL100. SURFACE WIND GUSTS NEAR 30 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE VICINITY OF THUNDERSTORMS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KEY WEST 82 91 83 91 / 20 20 20 30 MARATHON 82 93 83 93 / 20 20 20 30 && .KEY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GM...NONE. && PUBLIC/MARINE.........KASPER AVIATION/NOWCASTS.....DEVANAS DATA COLLECTION.......WAH VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/KEYWEST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 547 AM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009 FLZ076>078-GMZ031>033-052>054-072>075-261000- MONROE UPPER KEYS-MONROE MIDDLE KEYS-MONROE LOWER KEYS- FLORIDA BAY-GULF SIDE OF THE LOWER KEYS OUT 20 NM- GULF WATERS FROM EAST CAPE SABLE TO CHOKOLOSKEE 20 TO 60 NM OUT- OCEAN REEF TO CRAIG KEY OUT 20 NM- CRAIG KEY TO THE WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE OUT 20 NM- WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE TO KEY WEST OUT 20 NM- OCEAN REEF TO CRAIG KEY 20 TO 60 NM OUT- CRAIG KEY TO THE WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE 20 TO 60 NM OUT- WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE TO KEY WEST 20 TO 60 NM OUT- KEY WEST TO 20 NM WEST OF DRY TORTUGAS OUT 60 NM- 547 AM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE FLORIDA KEYS AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE CLOUD TO SURFACE LIGHTNING STRIKES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE CLOUD TO SURFACE LIGHTNING STRIKES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL
308 PM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0225 PM WATER SPOUT 1 N GRASSY KEY 24.78N 80.96W
07/25/2009 GMZ031 FL TRAINED SPOTTER
A WATERSPOUT WAS REPORTED NORTH OF GRASSY KEY AND WAS
OBSERVED ALL THE WAY TO THE WATER.
0230 PM WATER SPOUT 2 SE PIDGEON KEY 24.69N 81.14W
07/25/2009 GMZ053 FL TRAINED SPOTTER
A WATERSPOUT WAS REPORTED HALF WAY BETWEEN KNIGHT KEY AND
SOMBERERO KEY LIGHT. THE WATERSPOUT WAS OBSERVED ALL THE
WAY DOWN TO THE WATER AND HAD A DURATION OF 17 MINUTES
BEFORE DISSIPATING.
0245 PM WATER SPOUT 2 N CUDJOE KEY 24.70N 81.50W
07/25/2009 LOWER KEYS IN MONR FL TRAINED SPOTTER
A WATERSPOUT WAS REPORTED 2 MILES NORTH OF CUDJOE KEY.
THE WATERSPOUT WAS OBSERVED ALL THE WAY TO THE WATER.
&&
WHOVORKASPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 355 PM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009 FLZ078-252100- MONROE LOWER KEYS- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...KEY WEST 355 PM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH BIG PINE KEY... KEY WEST DOPPLER RADAR IS DETECTING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF BIG PINE KEY...AND OVER THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY FROM LITTLE TORCH KEY TO WEST SUMMERLAND KEY. MOTORISTS TRAVERSING THIS PORTION OF THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY SHOULD PREPARE FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS...NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY IN BLINDING DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES...WIND GUSTS NEAR 30 MPH...AND STANDING WATER ON THE HIGHWAY. DEVANAS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL
418 PM EDT SAT JUL 25 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM WATER SPOUT 1 N KEY WEST 24.57N 81.76W
07/25/2009 LOWER KEYS IN MONR FL PUBLIC
THE PUBLIC REPORTED A WATERSPOUT 1 MILE NORTHWEST OF THE
KEY WEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD.
&&
WHOVORKAThe Key West radar (KBYX), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:44 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a palm tree near the entrance to White Street Pier in Key West. The bolt passed from the tree to a 19-year-old male. The strike survivor remained conscious and was treated at Lower Keys Medical Center for minor injuries.
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, July 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: 191768.