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The 1946 Florida hurricane also known as the 1946 Tampa Bay hurricane was the last hurricane to make direct landfall in the Tampa Bay Area of the U.S. state of Florida to date. Forming on October 5 from the complex interactions of several weather systems over the southern Caribbean Sea, the storm rapidly strengthened before striking western Cuba. After entering the Gulf of Mexico, it peaked with winds corresponding to Category 2 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale; however, it quickly weakened before approaching Florida. It made landfall south of St. Petersburg and continued to weaken as it proceeded inland. Its remnants persisted for several days longer. In advance of the storm, preparations were taken along threatened areas of coastal Florida (mainly the Tampa Bay Area), including the evacuation of thousands of residents. Damage was extensive in Cuba, and five people were killed there. The cyclone's effects in the United States were minor to moderate, and the most significant impact was to citrus crops. No deaths occurred in the country, although high tides caused some flooding of low-lying terrain. The cyclone's structure was extensively observed and investigated. ==Meteorological history== At the end of September 1946, the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Eastern Pacific moved north of its typical position. An associated weather disturbance moved over Central America and interacted with a surface low-pressure area over Guatemala. Meanwhile, a broad high-pressure area moved over the United States behind an intense storm that moved eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Connected to the cyclone was a shear line stretching from Bermuda to the Caribbean Sea, which spawned an upper-level low over open waters. It moved westward on October 4, and by the next day it was located over the Southeastern United States. The feature over Guatemala began moving toward the northeast as the upper-level low approached and began deepening. Modern-day analysis estimates that the system became a tropical storm early on October 5, shortly after emerging into the Caribbean. The storm moved slowly northeastward, steadily intensifying. On October 6, it attained maximum sustained winds corresponding to Category 1 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. It began accelerating as it curved northward, and on October 7, the hurricane crossed extreme western Cuba with sustained winds of and a central pressure of . As it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone peaked with winds of , equivalent to low-end Category 2 status, on October 7. It only held its peak intensity for six hours, after which a minimum barometric pressure of was recorded, the lowest known air pressure in relation to the storm. The rapid deepening of the storm was described as "difficult to account for," and the conditions that caused it—as well as those that led to its dissipation—"may be regarded as extraordinary."〔 Immediately after peaking in severity, the storm weakened quickly: after skirting the Dry Tortugas in the lower Florida Keys, it moved ashore early on October 8 near Cortez, near Bradenton—just south of St. Petersburg—with winds of . Cortez measured a pressure of as the calm eye of the hurricane passed overhead.〔 The storm deteriorated into a tropical storm as it proceeded inland, and further into an extratropical cyclone with gale-force winds on October 9. Its remnants emerged from the coast of North Carolina into the Atlantic and curved southeastward, then bending westward again before dissipating on October 14. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1946 Florida hurricane」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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