St. Armands Residents Association |
Hurricane season in Sarasota starts June 1 and ends officially on November 30 every year. |
Sarasota history books show that the city rarely suffers direct hurricane hits.
Some hold the belief that Sarasota is protected from hurricanes because the Native Americans who first settled there knew that it was safe from the elements.
Others believe that they blessed the lands to stay eternally safe from destructive storms and hurricanes. Still others think that it’s an ancient Indian burial ground on the lands of Sarasota that keeps it protected.
Now, as you might imagine, these Sarasota Indian myths have been put under scrutiny. Pretty much everyone who studies Native American beliefs or culture say that no such legends exist.
Local archeologists say that they are myths passed around by word of mouth rather than any reality regarding Native American culture.
There is no question, however, that Sarasota has had relatively good fortune regarding hurricanes for nearly a century for some reason.
The Indian Burial Ground Legend in Sarasota By Stacy Hanan | October 11, 2017
Herald-Tribune article: What do hurricane winds actually feel like? Sarasota has no idea (August 29, 2023)
This hurricane climatology adage can be traced back to the British Caribbean fleet of the 1800s: (link)
June, too soon
July, stand by
August, come they must
September, remember
October, all over
Chronology of hurricanes affecting St. Armands: |
1848 - present | Historical articles and photos of hurricane impacts on Longboat Key: click here |
1888 - present | Sarasota, Florida's history with tropical systems: click here |
September 10, 1960 |
June 9, 1966 | Hurricane Alma 105mph just west from the south. Wikipedia |
June 19, 1972 | Hurricane Agnes caused beach and property damage on Longboat and Siesta Keys. Wikipedia *** 45 years of no significant impacts *** |
September 10, 2017 | Hurricane Irma passes 35 miles to the east while moving north with 100mph winds. On St. Armands Key, this was a wind event only, not a flooding event. ABC7 article , Observer article , Wikipedia |
October 9, 2018 | No significant impact to St. Armands Key, but... Hurricane Michael passed to the west, as did Idalia (August 30, 2023), but the high tide and storm surge did not combine to reach as high as Idalia (perhaps it may have been a high tide, but not a king tide?) - Tampa Bay 10 , Wikipedia |
September 28, 2022 | Hurricane Ian passes 40 miles to the south causing massive wind and flooding damage to many southwest Florida communities. This storm caused a lot of damage in the region, but, on St. Armands Key, this was a wind event only, not a flooding event. Sarasota Magazine article , Observer article , Sarasota Magazine article , Wikipedia |
August 30, 2023 | Hurricane Idalia passed far enough to our west that there was no significant wind impact, but it happened to coincide with a "king tide" event resulting in significant flooding on the streets of St. Armands that persisted a full day in some sections. We estimate that there was a 3-4' storm surge on top of the unusually high tide. This was probably the most significant flooding event on St. Armands since Hurricane Donna in 1960 (63 years ago). Observer article , Herald-Tribune article , Wikipedia |