High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1946 Florida hurricane was an intense tropical cyclone of the 1946 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming on October 5 from the complex interactions of several weather systems over the southern Caribbean Sea, the storm rapidly strengthened before striking western Cuba. After entering the Gulf of Mexico, it peaked with winds corresponding to Category 4 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale; however, it quickly collapsed into a minimal hurricane before approaching Florida. It made landfall north of the Tampa area and continued to weaken as it proceeded inland. Its remnants persisted for several days longer.