Tropical Storm — Inland Hillsborough, Florida

2017-07-31 · Inland Hillsborough, Florida

Event narrative

Tropical Storm Emily formed on the tail-end of a slow moving frontal boundary that was draped across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. A weak area of low pressure developed on the 30th and slowly drifted southeast towards the Florida peninsula. Early in the morning on the 31st, satellite and radar data indicated that a tropical depression had formed about 65 miles west of Tampa Bay. The system became a tropical storm shortly before landfall just a few hours later. Emily made landfall on Anna Maria Island at 10:45 AM with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and a minimum central pressure of 1005 mb.

Across interior Hillsborough County, there were a few reports of downed limbs and trees. Rainfall was the biggest impact with widespread 3 to 5 inch rainfall totals reported from home weather stations and CoCoRaHS observers across southern and central areas of the county.

Wider weather episode

Emily was a small system and it's effects were very localized across the region. It produced one tornado along the Manatee county coast and wind gusts were observed in the 40 to 65 mph range across Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties. Emily produced areas of 4-6 inches of rain across portions of west central Florida.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 705843. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.