Spared the worst, Tampa Bay saw record rainfall and 100+ mph gusts

While Tampa Bay was spared the worst of Hurricane Milton’s wrath, wind and rain battered the region and caused widespread damage.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service’s regional office in Ruskin had been up all night. Thursday morning, they were tallying Milton’s new records.

Hurricane-force winds extended across the Tampa Bay area, with the highest gust recorded at 105 mph at Egmont Channel, according to Austen Flannery, a meteorologist with the Tampa Bay office.

Gusts elsewhere weren’t far behind:

• Skyway Fishing Pier: 103 mph
• Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport : 102 mph
• Albert Whitted Airport: 101 mph
• Tampa International Airport: 97 mph

It’s too early to say exactly how far and wide Milton’s wind field delivered those damaging winds, according to Flannery.

“It still exited as a Category 1 hurricane, so there were at least hurricane-force gusts that occurred all the way across the state,” he said.

Because Milton landed south of Tampa Bay, blowing water out of the bay, storm surge values were in the negatives there, Flannery said. The highest surge was measured at 7 feet at a gauge just south of Sarasota.

Milton also brought record-breaking rainfall.Albert Whitted measured a record-setting daily amount of rain from Milton: a 2-day total of 18.75 inches.

In Temple Terrace, 15.6 inches were recorded. Zephyr Hills, Holiday and Clearwater Beach saw more than 14 inches.

“For perspective, it was at least a 1-in-500 year rainfall event, if not 1-in-1,000,” Flannery said.

He echoed warnings from other officials asking people to stay off the road Thursday as crews worked to clean up damage and restore power.

“Hazards still remain, even though the storm is gone,” Flannery said.