An afternoon seabreeze developed along the Florida west coast and pushed inland through the afternoon and early evening. One thunderstorm produced strong gusty winds that caused damage.
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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 TBW wrote it up.
An afternoon seabreeze developed along the Florida west coast and pushed inland through the afternoon and early evening. One thunderstorm produced strong gusty winds that caused damage.
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 Apr 18, 8:25 PM EST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 925 PM EDT MON APR 18 2011 .UPDATE...SCATTERED TO LOCALLY NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED PRIMARILY OVER HIGHLANDS COUNTY...BUT A FEW IN HARDEE AND POLK COUNTIES AS WELL. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL CONTAIN SOME HAIL...POSSIBLY UP TO QUARTER SIZED. THESE STORMS SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH IN THE NEXT HOUR AND DISSIPATE COMPLETELY BY MIDNIGHT. THE GRIDS HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE LATEST WEATHER TRENDS AND THE POINT AND CLICKS ON THE WEB SHOULD BE UPDATED. NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED TO THE TEXT ZONES SINCE THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL ONLY BE AROUND FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. && .AVIATION... A FEW SHOWERS WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF THE TERMINALS AFTER 18Z TUESDAY AFTERNOON OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS TONIGHT WILL BECOME SOUTHEAST AROUND 10 KNOTS AFTER 14Z TUESDAY MORNING BECOMING SOUTHWEST TO WEST IN THE 10 TO 15 KNOT RANGE AFTER 18Z AS THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE DEVELOPS. && .MARINE...WINDS ARE GENERALLY LIGHT NORTHWESTERLY IN RESPONSE TO THE SEA BREEZE. EASTERLY WINDS WILL OVERSPREAD THE WATERS AGAIN TONIGHT BUT DO NOT EXPECT ANYTHING HIGHER THAN 10 TO 15 KNOTS. NO MAJOR CHANGES PLANNED TO THE FORECAST THIS EVENING. && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && UPDATE/MARINE...JILLSON AVIATION...MCMICHAEL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 357 AM EDT MON APR 18 2011 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-190000- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 357 AM EDT MON APR 18 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. MCNATT
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 809 PM EDT MON APR 18 2011 FLZ056-057-061-190045- DE SOTO-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS- 809 PM EDT MON APR 18 2011 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CENTRAL HIGHLANDS...SOUTHEASTERN HARDEE AND NORTHEASTERN DESOTO COUNTIES... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED NEAR LAKE PLACID...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH...WILL AFFECT LAKE PLACID...UNTIL 845 PM EDT. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG OUTFLOW AND SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES EXTENDING NORTHWESTWARD FROM THE STORM TOWARD ZOLFO SPRINGS. GUSTY WINDS 35 TO 45 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. TO BE SAFE GO INDOORS IMMEDIATELY. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND A LOW SPOT...AND STAY AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. HAIL UP TO DIME SIZE IS EXPECTED. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. && LAT...LON 2744 8166 2746 8135 2720 8128 2723 8163 TIME...MOT...LOC 0007Z 164DEG 4KT 2729 8141
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 902 PM EDT MON APR 18 2011 FLZ057-190200- HIGHLANDS- 902 PM EDT MON APR 18 2011 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT HIGHLANDS COUNTY... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED NEAR VENUS...AND ANOTHER LOCATED BETWEEN LAKE PLACID AND LAKE JOSEPHINE...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH...WILL AFFECT VENUS... ARCHBOLD...LAKE PLACID AND SEBRING...UNTIL 1000 PM EDT. GUSTY WINDS 35 TO 45 MPH WILL OCCUR. FREQUENT LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED. TO BE SAFE GO INDOORS IMMEDIATELY. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND A LOW SPOT...AND STAY AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. HAIL UP TO DIME SIZE IS EXPECTED. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. && LAT...LON 2703 8133 2704 8155 2756 8145 2744 8118 TIME...MOT...LOC 0100Z 194DEG 6KT 2705 8138
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:33 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees and street signs were blown down along Lake June Road in Lake Placid.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2011
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: 298605.