August 7 to 11 2003 Summary (Index) Communities Bail Water Once Again Flooding at Bradenton's Desoto Square Mall, August 9, 2003. Photograph from Manatee County Emergency Management. Flooding in residential Bradenton. Note vehicle attempting to navigate high water. Don't do this! Be safe, Turn Around, Don't Drown!TM
Deep southwest flow returned to the Suncoast during early August, reaching it's peak between the 7th and 11th as a series of upper level disturbances increased the amplitude of a 500 mb trough across the Southeast U.S. (Figure 4). Repeating thunderstorms dumped torrential rains along much of the immediate coast, with significantly lower totals over interior west central Florida. (Figure 1). Highest storm totals were near the Pasco-Hernando County line, as well as across extreme southern Pinellas and northwestern Manatee Counties. In each area, freshwater flooding was observed during the weekend of August 9th and 10th. River flooding increased once again as a result of the heavy rains and cloud cover. Twelve gaging points surpassed flood stage during or just after the episode, with ten points in flood at one time. The Withlacoochee River, which runs across interior portions of the north Suncoast, has been near or above flood stage for much of the astronomical summer. Table 1 below shows preliminary river flood information as of August 17th. Figure 1 - Preliminary episode rain totals for West Central and Southwest Florida, August 7 through 11, 2003. Figure 2 - Infrared geostationary satellite photograph, at 1445 UTC August 7th. Note the thick clouds across the immediate Suncoast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Figure 3 - National Rainfall composite for the time period of 8 AM August 9th through 8 AM August 10th. The area of heaviest precipitation is along the central Suncoast	Figure 4 - The 500 mb height contours. Note the high amplitude of trough, dipping into the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Table 1:Preliminary Flood Stage Report as of August 17, 2003. Dates are for Eastern Daylight Time. River and Station Flood Stage Above Flood Stages (Dates) Crest From To Stage (Ft) Date Withlacoochee R. at Dunnellon 29 8/7* 8/17** 29.54 8/9 Withlacoochee R. at Holder 8 8/7* 8/17** 9.27 8/17 Withlacoochee R. at Croom 9 8/11 8/17** 9.24 8/16 Withlacoochee R. at Trilby 12 8/10 8/17** 13.29 8/17 Anclote R. at Elfers 20 8/11 8/13 21.02 8/12 Cypress Cr. at Worthington Gardens 8 8/7* 8/17** 10.27 8/13 Alafia R. at Lithia 13 8/10 8/12 13.92 8/11 Little Manatee R. at Wimauma 11 8/10 8/13 12.41 8/12 Horse Cr near Arcadia 12 8/10 8/17** 15.12 8/14 Myakka R. at Myakka State Park 7 8/7* 8/17** 10.02 8/13 Manatee R. at Myakka Head 11 8/11 8/12 11.90 8/11 Peace R. at Arcadia 11 8/12 8/17** 11.6 8/15
Notes:     * Flooding underway when episode began on August 7th.     ** Flooding continued after the time of this story (August 17th).