Tampa, Florida

===Tropical storms===
Though threatened by tropical systems almost every hurricane season (which runs from June 1 to November 30), Tampa seldom feels major effects from [[tropical storm]]s or [[hurricane]]s. No hurricane has made [[Landfall (meteorology)|landfall]] in the immediate Tampa Bay area since the category 4 [[1921 Tampa Bay hurricane]] made landfall near [[Tarpon Springs, Florida|Tarpon Springs]] and caused extensive damage throughout the region.<ref name="comingstorm" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/the-tampa-bay-area-has-been-lucky/1096585 |title=The Tampa Bay area has been lucky |date=May 21, 2010 |access-date=October 24, 2016 |website=Tampa Bay Times |last=McClure |first=Brian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025050824/http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/the-tampa-bay-area-has-been-lucky/1096585 |archive-date=October 25, 2016}}</ref>

Over the past few decades, four major hurricanes were forecast to hit the Tampa Bay area from the south-southwest, which is a worse-case track that would result in a maximum [[storm surge]] event: [[Hurricane Donna]] (1960), [[Hurricane Charley]] (2004), [[Hurricane Irma]] (2017), and [[Hurricane Ian]] (2022).<ref name="pineapple1998">{{cite book |last=Henry |first=James |title=The Climate and Weather of Florida |publisher=Pineapple Press (FL) |location=Sarasota, Florida |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-56164-036-2}}</ref><ref name="Ian2022">{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Kirby |title=Hurricane Ian was supposed to slam Tampa Bay head on. What happened? |url=https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane/2022/09/28/hurricaneian/ |access-date=September 29, 2022 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=September 28, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> However, all of these storms veered to the east or northeast before reaching Tampa Bay and instead made landfall down the coast, resulting in serious damage in [[southwest Florida]]. Irma had the greatest effect on Tampa. It made landfall near [[Marco Island]] on September 10, 2017, and moved due north, passing through eastern Hillsborough County as a Category 1 storm and causing widespread issues in the area, particularly disrupting the [[electrical grid]] for several days.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/power-update-19-million-customers-in-florida-still-powerless-five-days/2337576 |title=19 Million Customers in Florida Still Powerless |last=Sampson |first=Zachary |date=September 15, 2017 |work=Tampa Bay Times |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917025542/http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/power-update-19-million-customers-in-florida-still-powerless-five-days/2337576 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Because of tremendous population growth and coastal development in the century since the last hurricane landfall combined with rising sea levels due to [[climate change]], the Tampa Bay Area is considered one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to a direct hit from a major storm.<ref name="comingstorm">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/health/environment/tampa-bay-climate-change/ |title=Tampa Bay's Coming Storm |last=Fears |first=Darryl |date=July 28, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911184601/https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/health/environment/tampa-bay-climate-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref>