No active hurricanes threatening Tampa right now

Could the next one hit soon? 203 hurricanes have impacted the Tampa Bay area since 1852 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

203
Hurricanes affecting Tampa Bay area
2024
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
4 mi
Closest approach
Local note: The shallow shelf and funnel shape of Tampa Bay make storm surge the single biggest threat from any westerly approach — major surge events have come from storms passing 100+ miles offshore.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Tampa Bay area — including St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, Bradenton, Sarasota. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Tampa Bay area?

Distribution of 203 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Tampa, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
2 M
24 J
18 J
41 A
55 S
51 O
11 N
1 D

Recent notable storms affecting the Tampa Bay area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 MILTON Cat 5 155 kt 39 mi
2024 DEBBY Cat 1 70 kt 103 mi
2024 HELENE Cat 4 120 kt 124 mi
2023 IDALIA Cat 4 115 kt 127 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 52 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 70 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 64 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 64 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 108 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 169 mi
2017 IRMA Cat 5 155 kt 23 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 147 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 160 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 194 mi
2007 ANDREA Cat 1 65 kt 178 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Tampa. 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 Tampa

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1899 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 4 mi Oct 05, 1899
1898 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 9 mi Aug 02, 1898
1930 UNNAMED Cat 4 135 kt 11 mi Sep 09, 1930
1873 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 14 mi Sep 23, 1873
2004 FRANCES Cat 4 125 kt 14 mi Sep 06, 2004
1872 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 15 mi Oct 23, 1872
1991 ANA TS 45 kt 15 mi Jul 01, 1991
1968 UNNAMED TD 25 kt 16 mi Aug 30, 1968
1852 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 19 mi Sep 12, 1852
1959 UNNAMED Cat 1 75 kt 21 mi Jun 18, 1959
Showing the 10 closest of 203 total storms within 150 mi of Tampa since 1852.

If a hurricane threatens Tampa

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address using Florida's Know Your Zone tool (Hillsborough County and surrounding counties).
  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 Tampa

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Tampa (27.9506°N, 82.4572°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Tampa — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.