A humid and unstable environment fueled seabreeze thunderstorms. One of these storms produced small hail.
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 humid and unstable environment fueled seabreeze thunderstorms. One of these storms produced small hail.
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 14, 11:53 AM EST, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 1253 PM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-THURSDAY)...SERIES OF UPPER TROUGHS CONTINUE TO ROTATE OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION INTO THE DEEP SOUTH WHILE UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO GET SUPPRESSED FROM S FL PENINSULA TO OVER THE NORTHERN CARIBBEAN. WEAK SURFACE BERMUDA RIDGE AXIS OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL FL PENINSULA TO SLOWLY DRIFT NORTHWARD THROUGH THURSDAY. CONTINUE TO EXPECT WARM AND HUMID SUMMERTIME CONDITIONS AREAWIDE WITH SCATTERED DIURNAL POPS MAINLY ALONG SEA BREEZE AND BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT-MONDAY)...HIGH PRESSURE WILL RIDGE ACROSS THE AREA AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH A WEAKENING BOUNDARY STALLING JUST NORTH OF THE REGION FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY. GENERAL AFTERNOON SCATTERED SEA BREEZE INDUCED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH DAY WITH RAIN CHANCES MAINLY 40 PERCENT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE 70S FOR LOWS AND IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S FOR HIGHS. && .AVIATION...DEVELOPING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF MVFR CONDITIONS AT ALL TERMINAL SITES BETWEEN 18 AND 22Z AND HAVE TEMPOS IN THE TAFS TO COVER THIS...OTHERWISE VFR IS EXPECTED. VARIABLE WINDS 5 KNOTS OR LESS WILL BECOME SOUTHWEST TO WEST AT 6 TO 8 KNOTS AFTER 18Z WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KNOTS POSSIBLE IN THE VICINITY OF THUNDERSTORMS. VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 5 KNOTS WILL RETURN TO THE TERMINALS AFTER 01Z TONIGHT. && .MARINE...HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE AXIS TO MEANDER AND HOLD OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND WITH WINDS AROUND 10 KNOTS OR LESS AND SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS WITH AFTERNOON SEABREEZES AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .FIRE WEATHER...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME LEVELS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 78 91 79 92 / 20 30 20 20 FMY 76 93 76 94 / 20 30 20 40 GIF 75 94 76 94 / 20 40 20 40 SRQ 76 91 76 92 / 20 30 20 20 BKV 72 92 72 93 / 20 30 20 20 SPG 80 91 80 92 / 20 30 20 20 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...25/DAVIS AVIATION...57/MCMICHAEL LONG TERM...24/COLSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 550 AM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-141600- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DESOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- 550 AM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG THE BAY AND SEA BREEZE BOUNDARIES WITH THE BEST CHANCES INLAND. THE MAIN THREATS FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS...AND HEAVY RAINS CAUSING MINOR FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ...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 POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER AND SELF ACTIVATE IF NEEDED. COLSON
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
254 PM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012
FLZ043-141945-
SUMTER-
254 PM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHERN SUMTER COUNTY...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS
LOCATED NEAR RUTLAND...OR 9 MILES WEST OF WILDWOOD...MOVING EAST AT
10 MPH...WILL AFFECT RUTLAND...LAKE PANASOFFKEE...WILDWOOD AND
OXFORD...UNTIL 345 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. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE
VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.
&&
LAT...LON 2896 8195 2882 8195 2875 8221 2877 8218
2878 8219 2879 8217 2882 8218 2890 8227
2892 8228 2896 8218 2896 8196
TIME...MOT...LOC 1854Z 248DEG 10KT 2886 8217SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
312 PM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012
FLZ051-052-055-056-142015-
HARDEE-POLK-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-
312 PM EDT TUE AUG 14 2012
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH...
NORTHEASTERN MANATEE...NORTHWESTERN HARDEE AND SOUTHWESTERN POLK
COUNTIES...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS
LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM PLANT CITY AIRPORT TO ALAFIA
RIVER STATE PARK TO DUETTE...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM PLANT
CITY TO FISH HAWK TO 19 MILES SOUTH OF FISH HAWK...MOVING EAST AT 5
MPH...WILL AFFECT PLANT CITY AIRPORT...VALRICO...LITHIA SPRINGS STATE
PARK AND FISH HAWK...UNTIL 415 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. THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE PEA
SIZE HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND
WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.
&&
LAT...LON 2816 8193 2782 8190 2748 8196 2748 8231
2782 8224 2815 8227
TIME...MOT...LOC 1911Z 270DEG 5KT 2801 8216 2782 8214
2757 8219The Tampa radar (KTBW), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:42 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Broadcast media relayed a few reports of nickel sized hail from the public.
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: 408793.