The 1848 Tampa Bay hurricane, also known as the Great Gale of 1848, was the most severe hurricane to affect Tampa Bay in the U.S. state of Florida and one of only two major hurricanes to make landfall in the area, the other having occurred in 1921. It affected the Tampa Bay Area September 23–25, 1848, and crossed the peninsula to cause damage on the east coast on or about September 26. It reshaped parts of the coast and destroyed much of what few human works and habitation were then in the Tampa Bay Area. Although available records of its wind speed are unavailable, its barometric pressure and storm surge were consistent with at least a Category 4 hurricane. A survivor called the storm "the granddaddy of all hurricanes."
recorded peak winds of, and a barometer at the fort measured a minimum pressure of, though the winds were still blowing at the time that reading was made. The storm produced the highest storm tide ever experienced in Tampa Bay. The water rose and fell about in six to eight hours. The tide inundated Pinellas County "at the waist," covering all low-lying elevations, and reportedly submerged most of the Interbay Peninsula, where South Tampa and MacDill Air Force Base currently reside. "The bays met." General R. D. A. Wade, commanding at Fort Brooke, reported the destruction of the wharves, public buildings, and storehouses. B. P. Curry, the fort's assistant surgeon, reported the hospital destroyed. Only five houses were left standing in Tampa, and they were all damaged. The water rose twelve feet higher than had been noted in the past, and strong winds downed many old trees. On the Pinellas Peninsula, the storm destroyed the fishing rancho of Antonio Máximo Hernández, reputedly lower Pinellas' first white settler, forcing him to emigrate permanently. The storm almost obliterated the citrus crop and destroyed the main house at St. Helena plantation—now part of Safety Harbor—forcing the residents to shelter on an elevated Tocobagamidden. Even so, they nearly drowned as the storm tide eroded part of the shell mound. Winds also felled almost all of the trees along what is now Indian Rocks Road in Largo. The storm completely altered the coastal geography of the Tampa Bay area, cutting new inlets, filling in others, and altering the shape of bays and keys, thereby making navigational charts useless to mariners. Allen's Creek was widened from less than to about half a mile at its mouth. Passage Key, between Egmont Key and Anna Maria, was obliterated but reformed later. The storm created what would become known as "Soldier's Hole" at Mullet Key, so called because soldiers at Fort De Soto used it as a swimming hole. John's Pass was opened but has since shifted north. After the storm destroyed the lighthouse on Egmont Key, the keeper rode out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palmetto tree. The end of the rope was later found off the ground, which had an elevation of about. At Englewood, Stump Pass was cut. Casey's Pass was opened at Venice. New Pass was opened between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf, splitting Palm Island into Longboat and Lido Keys. Farther south, the storm significantly damaged the Charlotte Harbor area near present-day Fort Myers. Elsewhere, ships also encountered the storm. A brig, sighted in the Gulf of Mexico near Cedar Key, encountered the storm while at most from St. Marks, Florida; the ship lost its mast to the storm. Damage on the east coast may have been less severe, but the storm still produced significant effects and was described in the Savannah Republican as, "blowing 'great guns' – the hardest blow felt for several years." It blew down houses in Jacksonville and caused flooding in St. Augustine, as well as interference with shipping on the St. Johns River.
