• Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2012
  • Bookmark and Share
  • email
  • |
  • print
  • |
  • rss

tool name

close
tool goes here

Odds of hurricane during Republican National Convention in Tampa: slim

email this story print this story jump to comments

The worst hurricane ever to hit Tampa pretty much drowned the site of the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for the end of the month — at the very height of hurricane season.

But the odds of history repeating are slim, according to Jeff Masters, who did the calculations for his always-fascinating Weather Underground blog.

The storm in question was known as “Great Gale of 1848,” and it pushed 15 feet of water from Tampa Bay across what was then a military outpost called Fort Brooke. It’s now occupied by the Tampa Bay Convention Center in a low-lying area that would be evacuated in Category 1 storm.

But Masters noted that hurricanes rarely seem to hit Tampa. The last direct strike was in 1946, the last major storm in 1921. Large evacuations were ordered in 1985 for Hurricane Elena and 2004 for Charley, but the city avoided serious damage or flooding from both.

Looking at long-range forecasts for the tropics and Tampa’s history, Masters puts the odds of a storm forcing an evacuation that would disrupt the convention at 0.2 percent.

  • Bookmark and Share
  • email
  • |
  • print
  • |
  • rss

tool name

close
tool goes here
JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. To post one, you must sign in using either your McClatchyDC login or your login for Facebook, Twitter or Disqus. Just click the appropriate box below.

Please keep your comment civil, short and to the point. Obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. If you find a comment abusive or inappropriate, please flag it for the moderator by placing your cursor on the comment, then clicking the "flag" link that appears. Thanks for your participation.

Stay Connected

Sign up for email newsletters RSS
Follow us on your iPhone Follow us on your Android device
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us using Google Currents

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT BLOG

Planet Washington

"Planet Washington" is a group blog by journalists in McClatchy's Washington Bureau. Send a story suggestion.