Why Milton’s ‘reverse surge’ sucked water away from flood-fearing Tampa

Associated Press

In the days before Hurricane Milton hit Florida, forecasters worried it could send as much as 15 feet of water rushing onto the heavily populated shores of Tampa Bay. Instead, several feet of water temporarily drained away. The phenomenon is sometimes called “reverse storm surge.” It’s a function of how hurricane winds move seawater as the storms hit land. At landfall, the spinning wind pushes water onshore on one end of the eye and offshore on the other. Ultimately, the center of east-northeastward-moving Milton made landfall Wednesday night south of Tampa near Sarasota. That meant fierce onshore winds caused a storm surge south of there, while offshore winds blew water away from Tampa.