Thunderstorms moved through the area ahead of a cold front and lightning struck a tree.
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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.
Thunderstorms moved through the area ahead of a cold front and lightning struck a tree.
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 Jan 20, 9:20 PM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 920 PM EST THU JAN 20 2011 .DISCUSSION... SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER THE OHIO VALLEY WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK TOWARD THE ATLANTIC...WITH THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT PASSING THROUGH THE AREA ON FRIDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY INITIATED ALONG A PRE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ALONG THE NATURE COAST AND IN THE ADJACENT WATERS. HAVE UPDATED THE FORECAST TO ADD A MENTION OF THUNDER FOR THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. EXPECT THE MAJORITY OF THE RAIN TO FALL AFTER MIDNIGHT OR SO BUT DECENT RAIN CHANCES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY. NO OTHER UPDATES ARE PLANNED FOR TONIGHT. && .AVIATION... SOME PRE-FRONTAL MVFR TO IFR SHOWERS AND LATER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN TAF SITES AFTER 06Z...WITH SOME PATCHY MVFR FOG AND IFR TO POSSIBLY LIFR CEILINGS ACCOMPANYING IT. THIS SHOULD SHIFT SOUTH THROUGH 14-16Z. SOUTHERN TERMINALS SHOULD HAVE PATCHY MVFR TO IFR FOG/LOW CLOUDS DEVELOP MAINLY 09-13Z. MVFR TO IFR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD THEN IMPACT THE SOUTHERN TERMINALS AFTER 17Z. && .MARINE... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WATERS ON FRIDAY...WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. GUSTY WINDS WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. SOUTH WINDS WILL TURN MORE NORTHERLY AND INCREASE IN SPEED AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. WAVE HEIGHTS WILL INCREASE TO 6 FEET IN SOME OFFSHORE SPOTS BY FRIDAY NIGHT. && .FIRE WEATHER... NO CONCERNS THROUGH FRIDAY. A FEW HOURS OF CRITICAL VALUES ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN NORTHERN AREAS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 61 67 49 61 / 60 70 30 10 FMY 62 76 57 70 / 40 70 40 10 GIF 59 70 48 63 / 60 70 30 10 SRQ 63 67 52 61 / 50 70 30 10 BKV 57 64 39 59 / 70 60 20 10 SPG 61 66 52 60 / 60 70 30 10 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && DISCUSSION/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...05/CARLISLE AVIATION...24/COLSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 540 AM EST THU JAN 20 2011 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-201700- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 540 AM EST THU JAN 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. ...DENSE FOG IMPACT... AREAS OF FOG...SOME LOCALLY DENSE REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE HALF OF A MILE...WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION EARLY THIS MORNING. THOSE TRAVELING IN AREAS OF FOG SHOULD DRIVE WITH CAUTION. USE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS...REDUCE YOUR SPEED...AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND OTHER VEHICLES. OVER THE COASTAL WATERS...AREAS OF SEA FOG WILL CONTINUE TODAY AND COULD REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE NAUTICAL MILE AT TIMES. INEXPERIENCED MARINERS SHOULD AVOID NAVIGATING IN THESE CONDITIONS. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... LATE TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. STORMS THAT DO FORM COULD CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION FRIDAY PRECEDED AND ACCOMPANIED BY SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO FORM COULD CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. ...EXCESSIVE COLD IMPACT... MORE FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS LEVY COUNTY FRIDAY NIGHT AND ACROSS THE ENTIRE NATURE COAST SATURDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. BARRON
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:30 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a tree and blew pieces of the tree in all directions. No other trees or structures in the vicinity were affected.
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, January 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: 281047.