Tampa Bay was spared the worst, seeing record rainfall and gusts of over 100 miles per hour

While Tampa Bay was spared the worst of Hurricane Milton, wind and rain devastated the region and caused extensive damage.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service regional office in Ruskin had been awake all night. On Thursday morning they counted Milton's new records.

Hurricane-force winds spread across the Tampa Bay area, with the highest gust recorded at Egmont Channel at 105 mph, according to Austen Flannery, a meteorologist in the Tampa Bay office.

Elsewhere, the gusts didn't take long to arrive:

• Skyway Fishing Pier: 103 mph
• Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport: 102 mph
• Albert Whitted Airport: 101 mph
• Tampa International Airport: 97 mph

Flannery says it's still too early to say exactly how far and wide Milton's wind field delivered these damaging winds.

“It was still a Category 1 hurricane, so there were at least hurricane-force gusts across the state,” he said.

Because Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay and blew water out of the bay, storm surge levels there were in negative territory, Flannery said. The highest rise was 7 feet at a gauge south of Sarasota.

Milton also brought record-breaking rainfall. Albert Whitted recorded a record-breaking daily rainfall in Milton: a total of 18.75 inches over two days.

At Temple Terrace, 15.6 inches were recorded. Zephyrhills, Holiday and Clearwater Beach had more than 14 inches.

“For perspective, it was at least a 1 in 500 year precipitation event, if not 1 in 1,000 years,” Flannery said.

He reiterated warnings from other officials who urged people to stay off the streets on Thursday as crews worked to clean up damage and restore power.

“There are still dangers even after the storm passes,” Flannery said.