Severe Weather

Severe weather isn’t out of the ordinary for Tampa Bay. This page collects information from various sources to provide a “situational awareness” into the current weather conditions.

SKYWARN^®

The purpose of the SKYWARN^® program in Pinellas County Florida is to provide the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office at Tampa Bay with timely and accurate reports of severe weather phenomena so that a timely warning can be issued to the public of dangerous weather conditions that include tornadoes, hail, flooding, and damaging thunderstorm winds.

Detailed information about SKYWARN^® operations in Pinellas County can be found in the Pinellas County ACS/ARES^® SKYWARN^® Operations Plan and Standard Operating Procedures document.

Current Pinellas County Severe Weather Alerts

Rip Current Statement issued March 17 at 2:50AM EDT until March 18 at 8:00PM EDT by NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
from NWS

* WHAT...Dangerous rip currents expected. * WHERE...Pinellas, Coastal Hillsborough, Coastal Manatee, Coastal Sarasota, Coastal Charlotte and Coastal Lee Counties. * WHEN...From 8 AM EDT Sunday through Tuesday morning. * IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water. [...]

Mon, Mar 17, 2025, Continue reading at the source

Special Weather Statement issued March 16 at 5:57PM EDT by NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
from NWS

At 557 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over Citrus Park, or 10 miles northwest of Tampa, moving northeast at 35 mph. HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Locations impacted include... Busch Gardens, Palm Harbor, Lutz, Odessa, New Tampa, Keystone, Greater Northdale, [...]

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, Continue reading at the source

Tornado Warning issued March 16 at 5:50PM EDT until March 16 at 6:00PM EDT by NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
from NWS

At 549 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Palm Harbor, moving northeast at 25 mph. HAZARD...Tornado. SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation. IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely. This dangerous [...]

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, Continue reading at the source

Tornado Watch issued March 16 at 2:57PM EDT until March 16 at 5:00PM EDT by NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
from NWS

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED TORNADO WATCH 52 TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AREAS UNTIL 5 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON IN FLORIDA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA HILLSBOROUGH PASCO [...]

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, Continue reading at the source

Rip Current Statement issued March 15 at 8:20PM EDT until March 18 at 8:00AM EDT by NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
from NWS

Sat, Mar 15, 2025, Continue reading at the source

Please be sure to check the NWS Tampa Bay Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook daily. It’s an extremely useful to check daily. It presents a graphical view of likelihood of various types of severe weather. If you have a weather radio, Pinellas is covered by two transmitters and Pinellas has a “Specific Area Message Encoding” (SAME code) of 012103.

Largo Marine – 162.450 MHz
Tampa Bay – 162.550 MHz

National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center’s Latest Content

SPC MD 244

MD 0244 CONCERNING HEAVY SNOW FOR CENTRAL WI...SOUTHERN MI UPPER PENINSULA Mesoscale Discussion 0244 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1217 PM CDT Wed Mar 19 2025 Areas affected...Central WI...southern MI Upper Peninsula Concerning...Heavy snow Valid 191717Z - 192015Z SUMMARY...Heavy snow, with rates of 1 to 2 inches [...]