The 1848 Tampa Bay hurricane (also known as the Great Gale of 1848) was the strongest known hurricane to impact the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the Unite ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Along with the

1921 Tampa Bay hurricane The Tampa Bay hurricane of 1921 (also known as the 1921 Tarpon Springs hurricane) was the most recent hurricane to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area and held the record as the major storm that stuck the continental United States latest in the c ...

, it is one of only two major hurricanes to make

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

along

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

's west coast since Florida became a

United States territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

in 1821. The 1848 storm is believed to have formed in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and made landfall near modern-day Clearwater in

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...

on September 24. It generated the highest storm surge ever recorded in

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

, reshaping parts of the nearby coastline and destroying many of the small settlements in the area at the time. Although precise records are unavailable, the storm's

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

and storm surge are consistent with at least a Category 4 hurricane.Brian H. Bossak
Early 19th Century U. S. Hurricanes: A GIS Tool and Climate Analysis.
Retrieved on 2006-08-01. The storm made its way across the largely uninhabited Florida peninsula over the next two days, and although weakened by the time it emerged in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, it caused substantial damage on the east coast as well. Early Florida pioneer William Whitaker called the storm "the granddaddy of all hurricanes."

Meteorological history

The storm appears to have formed in the central

before moving northeast to make

near Clearwater, Florida. It then crossed the Florida peninsula and exited near Cape Canaveral. After moving into the extreme western Atlantic, the cyclone continued to the northeast just offshore of the East Coast of the United States to the

Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

of Newfoundland.Michael Chenoweth
A Reassessment of Historical Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Activity: 1700–1855.
Retrieved on 2007-02-18.

Impact

Gulf of Mexico and Florida

A weather station at

Fort Brooke Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined ...

in modern downtown Tampa measured a minimum

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...

of and peak winds of on September 23, though the

anemometer In meteorology, an anemometer () is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti ...

ceased functioning before the height of the storm. By making landfall just north of the mouth of

, the counter-clockwise rotation of the storm pushed the waters of the Gulf of Mexico across the

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...

s and onto the mainland of modern

and pushed the shallow waters of Tampa Bay into Fort Brooke and the surrounding small settlement of Tampa Town, producing the highest storm surgees ever recorded in the region. The water near Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River rose about , the Interbay Peninsula where

South Tampa South Tampa is a region in the city of Tampa that includes the neighborhoods of Beach Park, Ballast Point, Bayshore Beautiful, Bayshore Gardens, Bayside West, Belmar Shore, Davis Islands, Port Tampa, Fair Oaks-Manhattan Manor, Golfview, ...

and

MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

currently reside was mostly submerged as "Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay met", and the peninsula of modern Pinellas County was inundated "to the waist." The storm destroyed the fishing ''rancho'' of Antonio Máximo Hernández, reputedly lower Pinellas' first white settler, forcing him to emigrate permanently. The storm almost obliterated the citrus crop and destroyed the main house at St. Helena plantation on the northwest corner of Tampa Bay — now part of

Safety Harbor Safety Harbor is a city on the west shore of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It was settled in 1823 and incorporated in 1917. The population was 16,884 at the 2010 census. History The area has been inhabited since the Stone ...

— forcing the residents to shelter on an elevated

Tocobaga Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends between the present-da ...

midden. Even so, they nearly drowned as the storm tide eroded part of the five-hundred-year-old mound. Winds also felled almost all of the trees along what is now Indian Rocks Road in Largo. Egmont Key lighthouse01

General R. D. A. Wade, commanding at Fort Brooke, reported the destruction of the wharves, public buildings, and storehouses with very few structures remaining. B. P. Curry, the fort's assistant surgeon, reported the hospital destroyed. Only five houses were left standing in the town of Tampa, and they were all damaged. The water rose twelve feet higher than had even been recorded, and strong winds downed many ancient

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

trees in and around the fort. The storm substantially altered the coastal geography of the Tampa Bay area, cutting new inlets, filling in others, and altering the shape of bays and keys, thereby making navigational charts useless to mariners. Allen's Creek was widened from less than to about half a mile at its mouth. Passage Key, between

Egmont Key Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

and Anna Maria, was obliterated but reformed later. The storm created what would become known as "Soldier's Hole" at Mullet Key, so called because soldiers at Fort De Soto used it as a swimming hole. An inlet at

John's Pass Madeira Beach ( ) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordered on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east by St. Petersburg. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,895. Madeira Beach is known to be a quaint beach ...

was cut by the surge but has since shifted north. The storm destroyed the lighthouse on

, and the keeper (Marvel Edwards) rode out hurricane in a rowboat tied to a palm tree. The end of the rope was later found off the ground, which had an elevation of about . At Englewood, Stump Pass was cut. Casey's Pass was opened at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. New Pass was opened between

Sarasota Bay Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota Counties, it ...

and the Gulf, splitting Palm Island into Longboat and Lido Keys.Sarasota County History Center
Historic Sarasota County: 1841–1910.
Retrieved on 2007-02-18. Farther south, the storm significantly damaged the Charlotte Harbor area near present-day

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

. Elsewhere, ships also encountered the storm. A brig, sighted in the Gulf of Mexico near

Cedar Key Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 702 at the 2010 census. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th ...

, encountered the storm while at most from St. Marks, Florida; the ship lost its mast to the storm. John's pass pmr 01

Damage on the east coast may have been less severe, but the storm still produced significant effects and was described in the ''Savannah Republican'' as, "blowing 'great guns' – the hardest blow felt n_the_

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Meteorological history

Impact

Gulf of Mexico and Florida

See also

References

Bibliography

External links