Today would be the start of a downward trend in thunderstorm activity, as pressure began to rise and the air started to dry out at mid levels. Nevertheless, with a light easterly breeze, the west coast sea breeze looked set to penetrate inland once again, which would collide with the east coast breeze later in the afternoon and evening, forcing further storms.

We spend another morning on Coquina Beach west of Bradenton, meeting up with the toe-nibbling fish and diving pelicans, whilst getting in a spot of snorkeling amongst the small surf. After lunch, we made the drive down the I-75 south of Venice, onto Gasparilla Island. This small island is home to a gold medal winner amongst US State Parks, and is reknown for being a little slice of paradise. The Gasparilla Island State Park lived up to its reputation, with pristine natural beaches, sand dunes and all manner of wildlife, including large iguana lizards which strutted their stuff in the baking sunshine.

However, as soon as we arrived at the park, a large thunderstorm was already brewing to our south-east over the mainland as the west coast sea breeze moved inland. The storm grew closer and at an alarming speed, throwing out CG strikes like there was no tomorrow. The storm's anvil hung dangerously overhead, putting out lightning strikes miles away from the storm and in otherwise blue sky. Most sensible people headed off the beach immediately, leaving just storm chasers (ie, us) and a few devoted fishermen. However, with a few lightning bolts in close proximity, even we headed to the car. The storm developed a great gust front, which could be seen sprawling across the bay in front of us. A narrow white line of rain and spray could be seen on the water's surface, and it was heading right for us. We kept the cameras rolling on the tripods until the very last second, when the wall of spray was just metres away. We dived into the boot of the van as it arrived, bringing torrential rain and winds of around 40mph.

Once this storm had set in, we headed back northwards, expecting the sea breeze to generate further storms up the coast. We encountered the next storm very quickly, east of Venice. Frequent lightning strikes, torrential rain and road flooding were witnessed. From here, we headed to the Sunshine Skyway to watch further storms. We expected these to develop as the west coast sea breeze struck earlier storm outflow boundaries head on. We were treated to another munching gust front rolling across Tampa Bay, from a storm which knocked out power back at our villa and gave 6.1mm in just a few minutes. Thereafter, more storms developed over northern Tampa Bay although these were too far away to chase. Instead, we watched the setting sun cast its red rays on the distant thunderclouds, which lit up the entire Bay in hues of orange and pink.