No active hurricanes threatening Panama City right now

Could the next one hit soon? 180 hurricanes have impacted the Panama City area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

180
Hurricanes affecting Panama City area
2024
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
4 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Panama City's low-lying Gulf-front location and nearby shallow continental shelf make storm surge the dominant threat, as seen with devastating surge and wind impacts from Hurricane Michael (2018) and successive strong Gulf hurricanes including Idalia (2023).

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Panama City area — including Lynn Haven, Panama City Beach, Youngstown, Mexico Beach, Ebro, Rosemary Beach, Fountain, Wewahitchka. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Panama City area?

Distribution of 180 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Panama City, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
4 M
21 J
23 J
35 A
56 S
36 O
5 N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the Panama City area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 HELENE Cat 4 120 kt 117 mi
2024 DEBBY Cat 1 70 kt 128 mi
2023 IDALIA Cat 4 115 kt 118 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 95 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 131 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 113 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 178 mi
2019 BARRY Cat 1 65 kt 126 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 14 mi
2017 IRMA Cat 5 155 kt 138 mi
2017 NATE Cat 1 80 kt 195 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 93 mi
2009 IDA Cat 2 90 kt 45 mi
2008 PALOMA Cat 4 125 kt 87 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2008 that came within 200 miles of Panama City. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Panama City

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1929 UNNAMED Cat 4 135 kt 4 mi Oct 01, 1929
1903 UNNAMED Cat 1 80 kt 5 mi Sep 13, 1903
1906 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 5 mi Jun 12, 1906
1851 UNNAMED Cat 3 100 kt 5 mi Aug 23, 1851
1875 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 5 mi Sep 27, 1875
1885 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 5 mi Aug 30, 1885
1907 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 5 mi Sep 28, 1907
1998 EARL Cat 2 85 kt 5 mi Sep 03, 1998
1894 UNNAMED Cat 3 105 kt 9 mi Oct 09, 1894
2005 TAMMY TS 45 kt 10 mi Oct 07, 2005
Showing the 10 closest of 180 total storms within 150 mi of Panama City since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens Panama City

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Bay County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Panama City

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Panama City (30.1606°N, 85.6494°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Panama City — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.