Hail, Polk
- When
- August 12, 4:20 PM EST
- Where
- Polk County, 0.92 mi SE of Eaton Park
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
- Coordinates
- 28.010, -81.890
Emergency Manager reported penny size hail near Crystal Lake in Polk County.
Hail in Florida, August 12, 2020
A strong seabreeze thunderstorm in Polk County produced penny size hail.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
A strong seabreeze thunderstorm in Polk County produced penny size hail.
What forecasters said that day
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 12, 1:04 PM EST, 3 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 1:04 PM EST, 3 hours 16 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL 204 PM EDT Wed Aug 12 2020 .DISCUSSION... High pressure at the surface and aloft stretches across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico. This will allow for light winds across the region with a sea breeze developing each afternoon. Showers and storms are already firing up along the sea breeze and will continue through the early evening hours. There will be some minor fluctuations with the ridge axis location, but overall the synoptic pattern will remain the same through end of the week and into the weekend. The temps will run around average with daytime highs in the low 90's and overnight lows in the mid 70's. && .AVIATION... VFR conditions will prevail through the day. Showers and storms are starting to fire up, so will hold VCTS at all terminals between 18- 00Z. The west coast sea breeze has set up allowing for the winds to turn onshore. Winds will decrease to light and variable overnight. No other aviation impacts expected. && .MARINE... Benign boating conditions with light winds and minimal seas persist over the gulf waters. The primary hazard for mariners continues to be thunderstorms. A few coastal showers are possible in the early morning before storms really begin to develop inland during the day. Mariners should watch for storms that may develop and drift towards the coast during the late afternoon and evening hours, creating locally hazardous winds and seas. && .FIRE WEATHER... Scattered showers and isolated storms can be expected each day for the next week. These showers combined with high humidities each day will preclude any fire weather concerns. && .Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs... TPA 77 93 78 93 / 30 60 30 50 FMY 76 94 76 93 / 20 60 20 50 GIF 75 94 76 94 / 30 70 10 60 SRQ 76 93 77 93 / 30 50 30 50 BKV 73 93 74 93 / 30 70 20 60 SPG 78 93 78 93 / 30 50 30 50 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. Gulf waters...None. && DISCUSSION/AVIATION/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...74/Wynn DECISION SUPPORT...57/McMichael
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:20 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Excessive Heat in Arizona, August 12 to 20, 2020
- Excessive Heat and Heat in Texas, August 12 to 16, 2020
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, August 12, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flows in Virginia, August 12 to 15, 2020
- Damaging Winds in New Jersey, August 12, 2020
- Wildfire in California, August 12 to 31, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flow in North Carolina, August 12 to 15, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Maryland, August 12, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, August 12 to 14, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Virginia, August 12, 2020
- Flash Flooding in Arkansas, August 12, 2020
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 12, 2020
More
Every storm in Florida in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2020
Sources
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: 902764.