Evening thunderstorms cause a fatality when lightning strikes a woman outdoors on Sand Key near Clearwater Beach.
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.
Evening thunderstorms cause a fatality when lightning strikes a woman outdoors on Sand Key near Clearwater Beach.
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 23, 1:18 PM EST, 4 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
218 PM EDT Wed Aug 23 2023
...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION, MARINE, FIRE WEATHER...
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 216 PM EDT Wed Aug 23 2023
Broad upper ridging and surface high pressure centered near Missouri
continues to dominate the weather over the eastern half of the CONUS
keeping a predominant east-northeast wind flow over the state of
Florida through the week. Drier air remains over the area today with
a PWAT of only 1.49 inches, which is below normal for this time of
year. This dry air will limit any significant cloud development and
storms for the day with only isolated to scattered showers and
storms possible this afternoon. This dry air will be short-lived
with moisture increasing by Thursday with PWAT values increasing to
around 1.6 - 1.9 inches for the latter part of the week and into the
weekend.
An upper level trough and surface low moves into the northeast U.S.
by late Saturday into Sunday, which will cause the ridging to
retrograde westward on Sunday and Monday. This will bring a shift in
winds producing south-southwest winds starting Monday afternoon and
continuing through the middle of next week. This will also bring an
increase in moisture over the area with PWAT values exceeding 2
inches. This will equate to increasing rain chances across the
region with the highest rain chances occurring Monday through
Wednesday next week. Scattered to numerous showers and storms
expected each day next week. Daytime highs will top out in the mid
to upper 90's with heat indices hovering just below advisory level
at 100-107 degrees. Overnight lows will remain in the 70's.
&&
.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 216 PM EDT Wed Aug 23 2023
VFR conditions are expected to prevail through the period with rain
chances remaining on the low side. However, latest guidance shows
the potential for SHRA and TSRA for TPA/LAL/PIE/SRQ between 21-00Z
so will hold VCTS at those terminals during that time. ENE winds
around 5-10 knots expected through this evening for all terminals,
then decreasing to light and variable overnight.
&&
.MARINE...
Issued at 216 PM EDT Wed Aug 23 2023
East-northeast winds around 10 to 15 knots and seas 2 feet or less
are expected across the eastern gulf waters through the week. A
slight increase in moisture returns over the next couple of days
with isolated to scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms
possible for the rest of the week. Gusty winds and choppy seas
expected in the vicinity of thunderstorms.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 216 PM EDT Wed Aug 23 2023
The only fire weather concern for the next few days will be high
dispersion index values as a result from the breezy east-northeast
winds. Minimum RH values are expected to remain above critical
levels throughout the forecast period keeping fire weather concerns
low. A slightly moist airmass returns today and continues through
the week with isolated to scattered afternoon showers and
thunderstorms possible for the rest of the week and into the
weekend. Higher rain chances expected early next week.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TPA 79 96 77 96 / 40 50 10 20
FMY 76 95 77 95 / 10 60 20 50
GIF 77 93 74 94 / 20 30 0 10
SRQ 76 96 75 97 / 30 60 20 30
BKV 74 95 72 97 / 30 30 0 10
SPG 81 94 80 95 / 40 60 20 20
&&
Sea Breeze Thunderstorm Regime For Thursday: 3
Sea Breeze Thunderstorm Regime For Friday: 3
For additional information on sea breeze regimes, go to:
https://www.weather.gov/tbw/ThunderstormClimatology
&&
.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...None.
Gulf waters...None.
&&
DISCUSSION/AVIATION/MARINE/FIRE WEATHER...Wynn
DECISION SUPPORT...JillsonThe Tampa radar (KTBW), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:10 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The body of a 73-year-old woman was discovered on a sidewalk at the Bayside Gardens IV condominiums along Gulf Boulevard on Sand Key in Clearwater after being struck by lightning.
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, Pinellas | 2023-08-23 | 73 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2023
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: 1145144.