Opinion: Ever since Donna, Sarasota has seen more snow than sustained hurricane winds
If the Native American burial grounds are not protecting us, then maybe it's the crystal in the sands of Siesta Key. No? Then perhaps it's just dumb luck, which may explain why no one around here ever wins big lottery jackpots, and no one ever will.
Whatever the reason, the Sarasota-Bradenton area has never taken a direct hit from a hurricane since reliable records began in 1871. This is such an impressive streak some local Realtors use it in sales pitches to out-of-state homebuyers. Like we need to attract even more people here.
Now, this little fun fact is almost statistically, if not meteorologically, impossible. In all the years that the weather wonks have been using obnoxious phrases such as "wind event," "rain event," "hunker down" and "ghost town," you'd think that some major hurricane would have smacked us head-on.
I know. Crazy, right? Well, here's something Cat 5 crazy:
Not only has Sarasota and Bradenton never suffered a direct hit, but in the last 63 years, we have never even experienced sustained hurricane-force winds, at least according to the Weather Channel.
Isn't that astounding? Sarasota County has experienced snow (1989) and Manatee County has experienced an earthquake (2006), but neither has felt sustained hurricane-force winds of at least 74 mph since Donna in 1960.
Just think of the amount of wood drilled into windows, terrifying nights spent in bathrooms, the unbearable days without air conditioning, the jammed evacuation routes, the monetary cost of damaged homes and buildings and cars, the time away from work and school, and you mean to tell me that technically we don't even know what a hurricane feels like?
The nickname of Manatee High is the Hurricanes, for goodness sake.
According to the Weather Channel, only three metro areas in the country have gone longer than Sarasota-Bradenton when it comes to experiencing sustained hurricane winds. Baltimore (1878), New York City (1893), and Brunswick, Georgia (1928) round out the top three.
We have had serious hurricane gusts approaching triple digits, but sustained winds are different. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, for example, 67 mph sustained winds were measured at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Last year during Ian, it was 61 mph.
Actually, and this is even more amazing, Hurricane Donna may have been the only time in history this area has experienced sustained winds exceeding 73 mph, according to the Weather Channel.
One time.
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In 1966, Hurricane Alma paralleled our coast, and though it was possible it brought sustained hurricane winds, there were no reports recorded either.
A hurricane in 1944 was believed to have hit the area as a possible Category 1, though wind speeds decreased to tropical storm velocity as soon as it struck.
Two years later, another possible Category 1 hit near Bradenton but again there were no records of sustained hurricane-force winds, so who knows?
As horrible as Hurricane Charley was in 2004, the storm that ravaged Charlotte County produced howling sustained winds south and east of Sarasota County, essentially because it was so small and compact, just not here.
So there you have it, according to the Weather Channel at least.
We have not experienced sustained hurricane-force winds in the last six decades.
We've had wildfires.
We've had floods.
We've had earthquakes.
We've had snow.
So now if you will excuse me.
Time to hit Home Depot before they run out of shovels.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Looking to dodge hurricane winds? Then Sarasota is the place for you
