Water sucked out of Tampa Bay by Milton

[wnylib]

Just came across this while searching for effects of Milton on the Tampa area. I am wondering if the water will return with a tsunami type of effect. Anyone know of this type of Hurricane effect on shorelines?

Link to tweet

[Pachamama]

1. I wouldn't stick around to find out where the water might be....

….returning….

[wnylib]

2. As I watched the video, I was feeling concerned

for the people reporting on the empty bay. It reminded me of people who ventured onto exposed land to check out the novelty of receding water just before the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami.

When wind or an earthquake is strong enough to cause bodies of water to retreat, it seems that the return must be powerful.

[Hekate]

8. Exactly. Good grief.

[Strelnikov_]

3. I was reading about this yesterday

If Tampa fell on the left side, which it did.

[DinahMoeHum]

4. It's called a "reverse storm surge"

Similar situation occurred with Hurricane Ian in 2022.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/weather/milton-reverse-surge-tampa.html

Very dangerous to be around. It can reverse after awhile and become a surge within a few minutes, not unlike a tsunami.

[wnylib]

6. Remember the critical care hospital in Tampa that is right

on the water's edge? There was an OP on DU about it, with a link to a video of it when Helene struck north of Tampa, causing a surge in Tampa Bay. The hospital was protected by wall constructed around it.

Earlier today, when Tampa was expected to be the landfall point, NPR did a story on that hospital. The hospital administration decided not to evacuate the patients ahead of Milton because their conditions are too critical to be moved out of the hospital. Instead, they moved people out of lower floors.

If the water returns to the bay as a tsunami, that wall might not hold up. I hope the foundation of the hospital is strong enough to hold up to the force of the return.

Imagine being a patient in that hospital who is conscious enough to know what is happening outside the hospital and the effects of the anxiety on their health condition. Imagine the hospital employees who remain on site with the patients.

I hope that all of them will be safe and unharmed.

[ms liberty]

14. Tampa General. Originally built in 1927.

[PedroXimenez]

5. hopefully going the right way

as i understand it, if the hurricane landed north of Tampa, the water would have been driven into the bay ( I think the bay in that video is actually Hillsborough Bay), flooding downtown Tampa, and water driven up the Hillsborough River, flooding a lot of neighborhoods along the river.

[BlueKentuckyGirl]

11. No, that is Tampa Bay

I lived in that area of Tampa at one time and I am very familiar with that particular area. That wall is on Bayshore Blvd and that is Tampa Bay. It is very near Tampa General Hospital. I am not familiar with anything called Hillsborough Bay.... although, the Hillsborough River runs through Tampa.

[hatrack]

7. From what I've read, it's the rotation of the storm that's pulling the water out . . .

It'll return as the storm moves on, but not like 3/11 in Japan.

[edbermac]

9. Happened two years ago during Ian

[sheshe2]

10. Community note with a USA today link.

Readers added context they thought people might want to know
While tsunamis typically recede water like this before surging, the phenomenon here for this hurricane is a "reverse storm surge" something predicted prior to occurrence. There is no evidence that the water will return with any more height than before the storm.

usatoday.com/story/news/wea…

'Reverse storm surge': How Hurricane Milton could flood Tampa Bay or shockingly dry it
The "reverse" storm surge phenomenon is truly one of the strangest results of a hurricane.

[BeneteauBum]

12. Not uncommon

I worked on Tampa Bay for over thirty years and spent a lot of time on Hillsborough Bay. Anytime there is a strong north wind as in a cold front, there are unusually low tides especially occurring concurrent with an ebb tide. The stronger the wind, the lower the tide. I used these events to walk exposed flats that were normally covered with bay water. As the wind abated the water flooded (as opposed to ebb) accordingly, returning to a normal tidal cycle.I never saw anything that could be called a tsunami (unless a 3cm tidal front created during tide change can be construed as a tsunami) due to weather. However, I’ve seen 1.5m waves driven by passing ships…..

I suppose if a north wind of 160kph that was sustained for several hours were to suddenly cease, it may cause a tsunami perhaps approaching a meter (I’m guessing) as bay water suddenly floods back to a normal depth…..nothing like is seen due to an earthquake effect.

You can’t say this is diametrically opposed compared to storm surge effect…the physics are different.
Peace ☮️

[wnylib]

13. Thanks for the first hand info. Good to know that the returning water

will not cause a strong surge onto land.

As a Lake Erie northerner, my only experience with hurricanes has been 1) heavy rains and flash flooding from the ones that move up the Atlantic coast, 2) high winds and Lake Erie shore flooding from Hurricane Sandy, 3) tornadoes in western NY this July from remnants of Hurricane Beryl.

Maybe I'd include a cyclone bomb blizzard in Cleveland (January 1978) that had hurricane strength winds and another cyclone bomb blizzard in Buffalo and western NY in December, 2022.

I had never before heard of the "reverse surge" from hurricanes.