Deep moisture allowed for sea breeze thunderstorms to develop in the afternoon. Some of these storms produced heavy rain and damaging lightning.
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.
Deep moisture allowed for sea breeze thunderstorms to develop in the afternoon. Some of these storms produced heavy rain and damaging lightning.
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 1, 2:20 PM EST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 320 PM EDT SUN SEP 1 2013 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-TUESDAY)... CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY SO FAR THIS AFTERNOON HAS BEEN LIMITED TO SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA. THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE HAS ALREADY MOVED INLAND FROM THE COAST AND WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW...EXPECT MOST OF THE ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE TO BE INLAND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF STORMS THAT MAY FORM ON OUTFLOWS. FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THE ATLANTIC RIDGE AXIS WILL MEANDER OVER THE SOUTH- CENTRAL PART OF THE PENINSULA WITH LIGHT SOUTHWEST WINDS CONTINUING. THE PATTERN LOOKS FAIRLY SIMILAR FOR BOTH DAYS...WITH EARLY MORNING GULF AND COASTAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVE INLAND WITH TIME AS THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE MOVES TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE STATE. COULD SEE SLIGHTLY LESS COVERAGE FOR NORTHERN ZONES IF THE GFS IS RIGHT IN BRINGING SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR FOR THOSE AREAS. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE SHORT TERM ARE ON TRACK TO REMAIN CLOSE TO CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMALS. .LONG TERM (TUESDAY NIGHT - SATURDAY)... THE LONG TERM PERIOD WILL BE MARKED BY DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING OVER THE EASTERN CONUS. WHILE THE MAIN LONGWAVE RIDGE STAYS MORE OR LESS ANCHORED OVER EASTERN CANADA...A COUPLE OF SHORTWAVE IMPULSES WILL ROTATE INTO THE MID ATLANTIC AND SOUTHEASTERN STATES. THE FIRST OF THESE SHORTWAVES WILL TRAIL A SURFACE COLD FRONT INTO NORTHERN FLORIDA WEDNESDAY AND STALL OUT ON THURSDAY AS THE LOW LEVEL TROUGH EXITS INTO THE ATLANTIC. THE SECOND UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE BUILDS IN OVER THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY FRIDAY AND INTO THE CENTRAL GULF ON SATURDAY. THROUGH ALL THIS..THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL BE WEAKLY DEFINED...BUT STAY GENERALLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA...STARTING OUT THE LONG TERM PERIOD JUST SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 4...AND LIFTING SLIGHTLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 4 BY NEXT WEEKEND. GRADIENT FLOW WILL BE LIGHT ENOUGH FOR SEA BREEZE CIRCULATIONS TO FORM EACH DAY WITH HIGHER RAIN CHANCES INLAND. MOISTURE WILL STAY PLENTIFUL WITH 1.5 INCHES OR MORE...AND USUALLY CLOSER TO 2.0 INCHES OF PRECIPITABLE WATER. AS A RESULT...THE AREA SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE 30-40 PERCENT STORM CHANCES EACH AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN A COUPLE DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW 90S AND MORNING LOWS IN THE LOW TO UPPER 70S. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS PREVAIL FOR ALL TERMINALS WITH VCTS THROUGH 20Z...EXCEPT FOR KSRQ...WHICH HAS ALREADY CLEARED OUT. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL OVERNIGHT. && .MARINE... LIGHT WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WITH NO HEADLINES ANTICIPATED. && .FIRE WEATHER... NO CONCERNS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 77 92 77 91 / 20 30 20 30 FMY 75 91 75 92 / 20 40 20 50 GIF 75 94 75 94 / 20 30 20 40 SRQ 75 89 75 90 / 20 30 20 30 BKV 71 93 70 93 / 20 30 20 30 SPG 80 90 79 90 / 20 30 20 30 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GULF WATERS...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...05/CARLISLE AVIATION...25/DAVIS/WYNN LONG TERM...18/FLEMING
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL 500 AM EDT SUN SEP 1 2013 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-GMZ830-850-853-856-870- 873-876-012100- LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK- MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DESOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE- TAMPA BAY WATERS-TARPON SPRINGS TO SUWANNEE RIVER OUT 20 NM- ENGLEWOOD TO TARPON SPRINGS OUT 20 NM- BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD OUT 20 NM- TARPON SPRINGS TO SUWANNEE RIVER OUT 20 TO 60 NM- ENGLEWOOD TO TARPON SPRINGS OUT 20 TO 60 NM- BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD OUT 20 TO 60 NM- 500 AM EDT SUN SEP 1 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... A MOIST AND FAIRLY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WILL ALLOW FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COAST THIS MORNING AND MOVE INLAND THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. ...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... DAILY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ON SEA BREEZE AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. FLEMING
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:01 UTC.
1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Broadcast media relayed a report of street flooding up to the bumpers of cars in Clearwater near East Bay Drive and U.S. 19.
The Florida State Watch Office reported a house was damaged by lightning in Largo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2013
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: 475104, 475117.