Numerous thunderstorms developed mainly along sea breeze boundaries under deep tropical moisture. A lightning strike from one of these storms caused a house fire.
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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.
Numerous thunderstorms developed mainly along sea breeze boundaries under deep tropical moisture. A lightning strike from one of these storms caused a house fire.
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 Jul 5, 1:58 PM EST, 2 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL 258 PM EDT Fri Jul 5 2019 .SHORT TERM (This afternoon - Saturday)... Mid level ridge continues across most of the region...with a weak short wave trough over south GA/north FL through tonight. The ridge begins to weaken and separate over FL Sat in response to a stronger short wave trough moving into the southeastern states... reinforcing the GA/FL short wave trough. The axis of surface high pressure from the Atlantic reaching westward across northern FL this afternoon slowly settles down into central FL by Sat afternoon. Southeasterly 1000-700 MB flow gradually shifts to south and south- southwesterly for Sat and becomes more moist. Model PWAT values of 1.8 to 2 inches through tonight increase to 2 inches and above Sat. This abundant moisture...daytime heating...and afternoon sea breeze boundaries will result in showers and thunderstorms. These will be scattered to locally ...with the sea breeze focusing the greatest coverage along the I-75 corridor in the afternoon then trend down and slip out over the Gulf in the evening. Sat will be some what similar although the higher amounts of moisture and a more southerly flow will expand the coverage...forming earlier and in the day and nudging the showers/storms slightly more inland. .LONG TERM (Saturday night - Friday)... High pressure from the Atlantic extending west across the south central Florida peninsula and into the eastern Gulf at the start of the period will support a light southwest wind flow across the forecast area to close out the weekend. Ample moisture (PW's 2+ inches) combined with daytime heating will support numerous diurnal sea breeze driven showers and scattered storms on Sunday during the afternoon and early evening hours with some locally heavy rain, frequent lightning strikes, and gusty winds. During next week the surface ridge axis will move to the south of west central and southwest Florida as a broad mid/upper level trough develops across the southeastern U.S. and Florida with the models continuing to show a closed upper level low developing over the eastern Gulf on Tuesday and then meandering it west along the north central Gulf coast through Friday as weak surface low pressure develops along a stalled frontal trough draped across northern Gulf coast which also meanders west through the period. As the ridge moves south and the upper trough evolves a deep layered increasing southwest to westerly wind flow will develop across the forecast area. Abundant moisture (PW's increasing into the 2.1-2.3 inch range) combined with a developing cyclonic flow aloft and mid level energy moving across the region within this flow will support unsettled weather across the entire forecast area with numerous to widespread (Pops 60-80%) showers and scattered storms expected daily, with the southwest to west steering flow favoring showers and storms moving onshore from the Gulf and affecting coastal areas during the late night and early morning hours, with the convection then moving into inland and eastern sections of the peninsula during the afternoon and evening hours. With abundant moisture in place, increasing divergence aloft, and added upper level energy from the trough enhancing rain production, some very heavy rainfall will be possible each day especially in areas where the training of storms occur, which may result in some flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas as well as the ponding of water on roadways. With the exact track of this low and its overall evolution and impacts from it still uncertain at this time, we will need to closely monitor the progress of this system in the coming days, but at the moment it does appear that the potential for a heavy rain event is increasing for the upcoming week, especially along coastal areas from Englewood north to the Suwannee River. Extensive cloud cover and high rain chances will keep daytime temperatures near or even a few degrees below normal each day with highs in the upper 80s to around 90, while overnight lows will run above normal especially along the coast given the onshore flow where lows in the upper 70s to around 80 can be expected with lower to mid 70s inland. && .AVIATION... 05/12Z. Prevailing VFR conditions are giving way to increasing clouds and VCTS...a few currently approaching FMY/RSW. These clouds and TSRA...with brief MVFR/PSBL IFR and gusty winds... continue TIL 01-03Z. Winds are or will shortly be SW to W...Light and VRBL overnight...then become S around 16Z. && .MARINE... Winds/seas 10 knots/2 feet or less for the weekend then increase to 15 knots/3 feet for early to mid week. However locally higher winds and seas in and near scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Prevailing east and southeast winds transition Sat to southwest and west for Sun and later. && .FIRE WEATHER... Moisture rich air will be in place for the next few days with no low RH concerns and scattered to at times numerous showers and thunderstorms. && .Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs... TPA 78 89 78 90 / 40 30 20 60 FMY 76 90 76 90 / 30 40 10 50 GIF 76 91 76 91 / 20 70 50 60 SRQ 77 89 77 90 / 30 20 30 60 BKV 75 90 74 90 / 40 50 30 60 SPG 79 89 78 90 / 40 20 30 60 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. Gulf waters...None. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...09/Rude LONG TERM/DECISION SUPPORT...57/McMichael
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Area Ruskin FL
258 PM EDT Fri Jul 5 2019
FLZ142-242-051945-
Coastal Citrus FL-Inland Citrus FL-
258 PM EDT Fri Jul 5 2019
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CITRUS COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM EDT...
At 257 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Inverness Highlands South, or near Inverness. This storm was nearly
stationary.
Winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm.
Locations impacted include...
Inverness, Homosassa Springs, Beverly Hills, Inverness Airport,
Crystal River Airport, Black Diamond, Inverness Highlands South,
Inverness Highlands North, Homosassa, Hernando, Sugarmill Woods,
Arbor Lakes, Lecanto, Leisure Acres, Inverness Highlands, Pine Ridge,
Heatherwood, Citrus Hills, Gospel Island and Floral City.
LAT...LON 2896 8231 2890 8227 2890 8226 2888 8225
2885 8223 2867 8230 2867 8233 2868 8242
2869 8242 2870 8244 2869 8250 2870 8259
2896 8262
TIME...MOT...LOC 1857Z 179DEG 1KT 2876 8241
TBWThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:59 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A fire in the attic of a house on Chessington Drive in Land O' Lakes was suspected to be caused by lightning.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 2019
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: 828771.