Seabreeze thunderstorms moved through west central Florida during the early afternoon. One thunderstorm started a fire at an apartment building, that destroyed the structure and killed one resident.
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.
Seabreeze thunderstorms moved through west central Florida during the early afternoon. One thunderstorm started a fire at an apartment building, that destroyed the structure and killed one resident.
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 13, 1:03 PM EST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 203 PM EDT MON AUG 13 2012 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE AXIS WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY OVER SOUTH FLORIDA THROUGH THE PERIOD...RESULTING IN A LIGHT SOUTHWESTERLY BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. MODEL SOLUTIONS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT KEEPING PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES AT OR AROUND 2 INCHES THROUGH THE PERIOD...SO EXPECT SIMILAR CONDITIONS TO WHAT WE HAVE SEEN OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE ACTIVITY OCCURRING BETWEEN LATE MORNING AND EARLY IN THE EVENING. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO TOP OUT GENERALLY IN THE LOWER 90S...WITH LOWS IN THE 70S. && .LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)... HIGH PRESSURE WILL RIDGE ACROSS THE AREA AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH A WEAKENING BOUNDARY STALLING ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA ON SUNDAY. GENERAL AFTERNOON SCATTERED SEA BREEZE INDUCED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH DAY WITH RAIN CHANCES MAINLY AROUND 40 PERCENT. WITH THE BOUNDARY SETTLING IN TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA SUNDAY...MAY SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUD COVERAGE AND 50 PERCENT RAIN CHANCES ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE 70S FOR LOWS AND IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S FOR HIGHS. && .AVIATION... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER COASTAL AREAS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE INLAND THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. AREAS OF MVFR AND BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR ACTIVITY INTO THE EVENING HOURS. VFR CONDITIONS RETURN OVERNIGHT. && .MARINE... RATHER LIGHT WINDS AND LOW SEAS WILL PERSIST FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...EXCEPT IN THE VICINITY OF THUNDERSTORMS...AS THE LOW LEVEL RIDGE AXIS REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA. && .FIRE WEATHER... NO CONCERNS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 78 91 78 90 / 20 30 20 30 FMY 76 93 77 94 / 20 40 20 30 GIF 75 93 74 93 / 30 50 20 40 SRQ 75 90 75 91 / 20 40 20 30 BKV 72 92 72 92 / 20 30 20 30 SPG 80 90 79 91 / 20 30 20 30 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...JELSEMA LONG TERM...COLSON AVIATION...DAVIS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 553 AM EDT MON AUG 13 2012 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-131800- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DESOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 553 AM EDT MON AUG 13 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG THE BAY AND SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES WITH THE BEST CHANCES EAST OF INTERSTATE 75. THE MAIN THREATS FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS...AND HEAVY RAINS WHICH CAN CAUSE POOR VISIBILITIES ON THE ROADWAYS AND MINOR URBAN FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP EACH DAY ALONG THE SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES. A FEW STORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BUT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER AND SELF ACTIVATE IF NEEDED. COLSON
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:13 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A fire burned down an apartment building at Garden Isles Apartments off North 56th Street and Sligh Avenue. Investigators determined that the fire was most likely caused by a lightning strike. One resident, a 58 year old woman, died in the fire.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Hillsborough | 2012-08-13 | 58 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2012
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: 409193.