Tampa Bay 2005 Hurricane Season Local Summary (Unofficial)

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Hurricane data at or within 15-20 miles of my location

Local impacts from the 2005 hurricane season were
very minor compared to what areas taking direct
hits experienced. This area generally experienced the same
type of winds that it experiences in regular summer
thunderstorms.

2005 Specific Storm Data:
Arlene- like a summer thunderstorm, sustained winds
here at maximum were 27 mph, with gusts to 41 mph

Dennis- like a strong summer thunderstorm, maximum
sustained at 44 mph with gusts to 58 mph (courtesy
KSPG & KPIE stations); A small tornado in St. Petersburg
may explain an UNOFFICAL MAXIMUM GUST reading
of 81 mph

Katrina- outer band produces minor damage to trees here...
maximum sustained at 30 mph with gusts to 48 mph (report
courtesy St. Petersburg official reports)

Rita- outer band produces gusts to 54 mph in southern st. pete (courtesy
highway reporter)

Tammy- rainband crosses the state, produces maximum sustained
winds at 30 mph, gusts to 43 mph

Wilma- Worst storm effects I have personally ever experienced:
Worse than Jeanne and Frances based on what I saw
Gusts:
76 mph (unofficial report from Tampa Bay)
72 mph (Courtesy Eastern Pinellas County Highway personel)

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

PREVIOUS YEARS
Within 15-20 miles of St. Petersburg, FL

2004 Data:
Charley: Maximum sustained: 22 mph
Max Gust: 50 mph

Frances:
Max Gust: 71 mph
Max Unofficial: 73 mph

Jeanne:
Max Gust: 78 mph
Max Unofficial Gust: 91 mph*
*reliability of source is questionable*


2003 Data
TS Henri- gust to 40 mph

2002 Data:
No significant impacts

2001 Data:
Hurricane Gabrielle: *Wettest Storm for my area*
Max Gust: 72 mph
Max Unofficial Gust: 80 mph (south st.petersburg, fl)
Rainfall: 10.12 inches

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Local Hurricane History:

I live in a very vulnerable place:
Major Hurricanes hitting Tampa Bay have been recorded with great
frequency in the 1840s:
1845- eye passes just south of the bay
1846- eye passes just south of the bay
1848- 2 major hurricanes struck Tampa Bay in 1848, one
sucked water out of the bay when it passed south...another
inundated the bay with water...


1921- Category 3 into Tarpon Springs inundates the Bay
1950- Hurricane Easy strikes north of St. Petersburg
as a Category 3

No major storms since 1950 thank God.

We got slammed so much in the late 1840s--- are there natural
periodic cycles that favor a certain place just getting SLAMMED?
Must be some natural variation cycle with bermuda high.
Last year it was FL that got pummelled. 2005 it was the
Gulf Coast that got slammed.

[gatorcane]

We got slammed so much in the late 1840s--- are there natural
periodic cycles that favor a certain place just getting SLAMMED?
Must be some natural variation cycle with bermuda high.
Last year it was FL that got pummelled. 2005 it was the
Gulf Coast that got slammed.

Actually S. Florida got slammed both in 2004 and 2005. Wilma and Katrina did a number down (Wilma was worse than Jeanne and Frances) here and then Frances and Jeanne last year.

Tampa Bay has missed most of the action but their day is coming...

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Whoops sorry yes South florida also got slammed.
Forgot to add that fact initially
I'm glad to have missed most of the action...but if stuff
occurs in natural cycles I won't be missing action for too long...

[tbstorm]

Wilma- Worst storm effects I have personally ever experienced:
Worse than Jeanne and Frances based on what I saw
Gusts:
76 mph (unofficial report from Tampa Bay)
72 mph (Courtesy Eastern Pinellas County Highway personel)

Hello.....where are you getting this data from? The highest *gust* from Wilma in KTPA/KPIE was in the 40's. I am extremely skeptical that there was a gust almost 2 times higher than the usu. wx stations, unless this 'unoffical' equipment was malfunctioning.

Wilma was the worst storm you have ever experienced? Wilma was a fricken letdown. Jeanne was a far more exciting storm and did much more damage in the Tampa Bay area.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Wilma- Worst storm effects I have personally ever experienced:
Worse than Jeanne and Frances based on what I saw
Gusts:
76 mph (unofficial report from Tampa Bay)
72 mph (Courtesy Eastern Pinellas County Highway personel)

Hello.....where are you getting this data from? The highest *gust* from Wilma in KTPA/KPIE was in the 40's. I am extremely skeptical that there was a gust almost 2 times higher than the usu. wx stations, unless this 'unoffical' equipment was malfunctioning.

Wilma was the worst storm you have ever experienced? Wilma was a fricken letdown. Jeanne was a far more exciting storm and did much more damage in the Tampa Bay area.

I got this data from Baynews9. They were broadcasting these
exact numbers the morning of Monday October 24. They repeated
the numbers around 10:35 AM that morning.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Wilma- Worst storm effects I have personally ever experienced:
Worse than Jeanne and Frances based on what I saw
Gusts:
76 mph (unofficial report from Tampa Bay)
72 mph (Courtesy Eastern Pinellas County Highway personel)

Hello.....where are you getting this data from? The highest *gust* from Wilma in KTPA/KPIE was in the 40's. I am extremely skeptical that there was a gust almost 2 times higher than the usu. wx stations, unless this 'unoffical' equipment was malfunctioning.

Wilma was the worst storm you have ever experienced? Wilma was a fricken letdown. Jeanne was a far more exciting storm and did much more damage in the Tampa Bay area.

I got this data from Baynews9. They were broadcasting these
exact numbers the morning of Monday October 24. They repeated
the numbers around 10:35 AM that morning.

I did some research into possible explanations for the
30 mph wind descrepancy between the airport site and the unofficial
readings...

A building with a nice beautiful pink-tiled roof
was looking pretty the night before Wilma. The following morning
after Wilma had passed, over a dozen of the tiles on it had
been displaced or blown off. Perhaps it was that downburst
that I talked about in the "Hurricane Wilma Microburst" Thread
I created around October 24th.

But those 72/76 mph readings are valid readings for their locations.
Yes they are much higher than the local airport's readings of
45 mph...but they seem valid. Baynews9 was repeating them
several times- but Baynews9 said that they were UNOFFICIAL.

The important thing is that the 45 mph reading was taken where
there are a lot of concrete structures hindering the wind.
I live very close to the open waters of Tampa Bay, and those
recording sites (that recorded 72-76 mph gusts) were probably located over more open water locations.

This is a reasonable explanation since readings near the water
can be 20-30 mph higher than what they are on land away from the
open water.

The difference between Wilma and Jeanne locally- severity of
damage (roof shingles, trees, roof tiles ripped off) was similar-
but the damage with Wilma was much more LOCALIZED and
ISOLATED, whereas with Jeanne the damage was much more
widespread for our area.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Can an Official Meteorologist verify/comment on this reasoning? I am trying to figure
out th reason for the descrepancy of 45 mph at the airport and
the 72-76 mph readings near open water of tampa bay