the last time tampa bay was hit by a hurricane was 1921.
when was the last time tampa bay was hit by a hurricane?
1921
the area is threatened by tropical systems almost every year and feels some effect from passing storms several times per decade. however, due to tampa bay's location on the west coast and the typical steering winds for storms, landfall in the area is very uncommon, with estimates of the probability of a hurricane making landfall in the tampa bay area during any given year ranging from 1 in 25 to 1 in 50. the small village of tampa was devastated by the great gale of 1848, and the area suffered major damage during the tampa bay hurricane of 1921. since then, however, tampa bay has not seen the landfall of any hurricane. manatee county, which is technically not part of the tampa bay area, in 1946 was the site of a category 1 hurricane that lost hurricane strength immediately after landfall.
climate of the tampa bay area
in the winter of 1975, the nasl ran a two-tiered, 16 team indoor tournament with four regional winners meeting in a "final-four" style championship. the rowdies defeated the new york cosmos 13–5 in the semi-final, before losing 8–5 to the host san jose earthquakes in the finals on march 16 at the cow palace. the rowdies again reached the final-four in 1976, but that year were the host team. this time tampa bay would not be denied, as they followed up a 6–2 semi-final win over dallas with a 6–4 finals triumph over the rochester lancers on march 27 in the bayfront center. over the next few years, the rowdies (and a handful of other nasl teams) played indoor friendlies and invitationals as preparation for the start of the outdoor season. the nasl did not sanction a full indoor season until 1979–80, when the rowdies won the championship by defeating the memphis rogues 2 games to 1. the 1980–81 campaign marked the first time tampa bay had ever missed the playoffs, indoor or outdoor. in the 1981–82 season they lost the finals to the san diego sockers 2 games to 0. once again the nasl chose not to sanction a full indoor season in 1982–83, but (in addition to a few friendlies) tampa bay and three other teams participated in the grand prix of indoor soccer. the rowdies finished second in the round-robin stage and subsequently went on to defeat montreal for the championship in a double overtime thriller at the montreal forum; 5–4. the final nasl indoor season took place in 1983–84 and the rowdies finished last out of the seven teams. due to scheduling issues that season, the rowdies played five games at the bayfront center, eight at the state fairgrounds' expo hall in tampa, and three in the lakeland civic center. tampa bay regularly drew home crowds of over five thousand "fannies" to the bayfront center, despite the arena's limited seating capacity and relatively remote location.
tampa bay rowdies (1975–93)