A very warm and moist airmass in place across the area allowed for heat indices to reach 100 to 105 degrees and an afternoon seabreeze to develop each day. Scattered thunderstorms developed each afternoon along the boundary and a girl was injured by lightning in one storm.
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 very warm and moist airmass in place across the area allowed for heat indices to reach 100 to 105 degrees and an afternoon seabreeze to develop each day. Scattered thunderstorms developed each afternoon along the boundary and a girl was injured by lightning in one storm.
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 11, 12:47 PM EST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 147 PM EDT SAT SEP 11 2010 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - MONDAY)... LITTLE CHANGES IN THE FORECAST PHILOSOPHY FOR THE SHORT TERM. BROAD MID LVL HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE GULF REGION AND A SFC RIDGE OVER CENTRAL FL WILL REMAIN IN PLACE UNTIL EARLY NEXT WEEK KEEPING CURRENT REGIME OF LIGHT WINDS AND WARM/HUMID CONDITIONS. GFS/NAM ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT KEEPING DEEP HIGH PRESSURE WELL IN CONTROL OF THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY. PWATS SEEM TO REMAIN HIGH ENOUGH FOR SUPPORTING SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM EACH AFTERNOON WITH THE RETURN OF THE SEA BREEZES...BUT GUIDANCE GRADUALLY BRINGS DRY AIR ADVECTION ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE TODAY AND MONDAY WITH POPS DECREASING INTO THE 20-30 PERCENT RANGE. H5 TEMPS ALSO REMAIN WARM...AROUND -5C. BEST CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL BE SOUTH OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA WHERE MORE MOISTURE RESIDES. AFTERNOON TEMPS WILL REACH THE MID 90S INLAND AND REMAIN AROUND 90 AROUND THE COAST EACH DAY. MORNING LOWS ALSO REMAIN WARM IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S...OR EVEN 80 ALONG COASTAL LOCATIONS. .LONG TERM (MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY)... ON MONDAY NIGHT...DRIER AIR BEGINS TO SHIFT IN OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA...USHERING IN A MARKED CHANGE IN WEATHER FOR MOST OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD. BELIEVE TUESDAY WILL SEE THE FIRST DAY WITH NO REAL POPS TO SPEAK OF NORTH OF THE TAMPA BAY AREA. ALSO WILL SEE TEMPS DOWN TO AROUND NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR RATHER THAN SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO...FOR THE FIRST TIME IN QUITE A WHILE. THIS TREND CONTINUES THROUGH THURSDAY AS A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE GULF WATERS. TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK...MODEL SOLUTIONS DIVERGE. THE ECMWF DEPICTS A SLOW MOVING TROPICAL SYSTEM NEAR THE YUCATAN BY THURSDAY NIGHT...HEADING INTO MEXICO NEXT WEEKEND. IT ALSO BRINGS A TROUGH THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES AND TOWARDS THE EAST COAST ON FRIDAY. THE GFS...ON THE OTHER HAND...KEEPS THE TROPICAL SYSTEM (AND ANY ASSOCIATED MOISTURE) WELL SOUTH OF OUR AREA AND DELAYS THE TROUGH MOVING TO THE COAST UNTIL SATURDAY. THE GFS IS THEREFORE SIGNIFICANTLY DRIER FOR THE FRIDAY/SATURDAY TIME FRAME COMPARED TO THE ECMWF...AND HAVE DECIDED TO CONTINUE THE TREND OF PREVIOUS FORECASTS AND STICK WITH JUST 20-30% POPS FOR FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WILL ALSO CONTINUE TEMPS AROUND NORMAL. && .AVIATION... CLOUDS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP AROUND THE TAF SITES AS THE WEST COAST SEABREEZE SHIFTS INLAND. WITH SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR TODAY OVER AREAS ESPECIALLY NORTH OF SRQ...HAVE LEFT OUT ANY MENTION OF PRECIP FOR TPA...PIE AND SRQ BUT DO INDICATE SOME BUILDING CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH A CB REMARKS. HAVE INCLUDED VCTS FOR FMY AND RSW WHERE TSRA IS MORE LIKELY. SKIES CLEAR AFTER SUNSET AND WINDS ARE LIGHT OVERNIGHT. && .MARINE...AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES WILL RETURN EACH AFTERNOON UNTIL MONDAY WHEN THE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM TO THE NORTH OF THE WATERS INTENSIFIES AND BRINGS INCREASING EASTERLY FLOW. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO DEVELOP CLOSER TO THE FL WEST COAST BY MID WEEK. BUT IN GENERAL...EXPECT WINDS AND SEAS REMAINING BELOW HIGHLIGHT CRITERIA THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT MAY FORM. && .FIRE WEATHER...DESPITE THAT THERE IS NO ANTICIPATION OF FIRE WEATHER ISSUES...A DRYING TREND WILL BEGIN THIS AFTERNOON AND THE SITUATION WILL BE CLOSELY MONITORED AS THE DRIER AIRMASS FILTERS INTO NORTHERN FL. RELATIVE HUMIDITY LEVELS SHOULD REMAIN HIGH ENOUGH TO PREVENT ANY DURATIONS OF CRITICAL VALUES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 77 92 77 92 / 20 20 20 30 FMY 76 93 76 94 / 20 30 20 30 GIF 75 94 75 94 / 10 30 10 30 SRQ 76 92 76 93 / 20 20 20 30 BKV 72 93 72 94 / 10 30 20 20 SPG 81 91 81 92 / 20 20 20 30 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...22/REYNES LONG TERM/AVIATION...23/MCNATT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 522 AM EDT SAT SEP 11 2010 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-112100- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 522 AM EDT SAT SEP 11 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES WILL ONCE AGAIN BE THE FOCUS FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THE STORMS SHOULD BE MAINLY OVER THE INTERIOR AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TODAY. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT IMPACT... TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB TO NEAR 90 DEGREES ALONG THE COAST AND INTO THE MIDDLE 90S INLAND THIS AFTERNOON. THIS COMBINED WITH DEW POINTS IN THE 70S WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDICES BETWEEN 100 AND 105 DEGREES TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... DRIER AIR IN THE MID-LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE FILTERING INTO THE REGION FROM THE NORTH NEXT WEEK. RAIN CHANCES WILL DECREASE A BIT EACH DAY SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH THE BEST CHANCES FOR AFTERNOON STORMS OVER LEE AND CHARLOTTE COUNTIES. MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO RETURN ON FRIDAY WITH INCREASING CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN. NO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT IMPACT... HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THEN DRIER AIR WILL BRING LOWER DEW POINTS RESULTING IN LOWER HEAT INDICES WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. JILLSON
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:30 UTC.
1 lightning, 1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
A 15-year-old girl was inside a residence on Easy Street in Lecanto, using a hair appliance, when she was injured by a lightning strike. She was transported to the hospital in stable condition.
A 3-year-old girl was mistakenly left in a sport utility vehicle for around an hour and 45 minutes, and died in the heat, while three of the girl's cousins attended a church service on North 9th Street in Tampa. Temperatures during the time the girl was in the vehicle were in the upper 80s, with dew point temperatures around 75 degrees, making heat index values around 99 degrees.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Hillsborough | 2010-09-12 | 3 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2010
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: 260163, 260164.