Anniversary of last major hurricane to directly strike Pinellas County, FL

October 25, 1921 marks an anniversary of the last major hurricane to directly impact Pinellas County, FL. This storm inundated the barrier islands with storm surge creating several passes including Johns Pass between Treasure Island and Madeira beach. Below is an excerpt from Bay News 9  regarding this storm:

Link directly to Article
By Bay News 9 Chief Meteorologist Mike Clay

On October 25, 1921, Pinellas County was hit with the last hurricane to score a direct hit.

Since then, there have been other very close calls and storms that have done damage such as Hurricane Easy in 1950 and a strong hurricane in 1944 that hit Manatee County and came up through Tampa Bay.

But the 1921 Hurricane is a textbook case of the worst case scenario for Tampa Bay. The storm was a typical October threat for us, forming late in the season in the warm waters of the Western Caribbean.

It moved slowly northward, getting stronger and missed the land mass of Cuba and the Yucatan of Mexico passing through the warm waters of the Yucatan Channel. From there, stronger upper level winds that were likely blowing by late October turned the storm northeast as it became a category 3.

The hurricane was likely weakening as it hit with the center coming ashore at Tarpon Springs. The National Hurricane Center shows it a category 3 at landfall with winds of 120 mph, pressure of 951 mb and a storm surge in Tampa Bay of 10.5 feet.

The hurricane left 10 people dead and $10 million dollars in damage. Remember, not many people lived here in 1921. The population was only slightly over 100,000. A storm like this today would cause many billions of dollars worth of damage here along with a severe threat to life.

We can learn lessons from the 1921 Hurricane which caused water to go over the barrier islands and cut several passes in the sand bars which still exist today.

Major hurricanes can hit the West-Coast of Florida, and are most likely in October. Even though the peak of the season was back in mid-September, we have to remain cautious through the end of the season in November.