[Gabz]

While Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte may not be 200 miles south of Tampa - it sure isn't 50 miles....50 miles south of Tampa is Sarasota. Fort Meyers is 75 miles south of Sarasota.

[Severa]

It's official; My dad's going absolutely nuts over this storm. He's sitting in Louisville KY watching all this, calls my mom yesterday in Ocala FL. Knows that SHE'S going to be ok (hell she used to live in Miami she knows the drill) but asks if the kids and I had left yet.

Yeah. Dad's not taking this storm well...

[Strategerist]

The city of Tampa itself is inland NE up the bay...

The NHC landfall itself the day before Charley hit was the south shore of the Tampa Bay......

And the landfall point was 50 miles N of the actual landfall point the next day. At the time, Charley was still south of Cuba.

The angle of deviation between the NHC forecast and the landfall point is only about 5 degrees of arc or so.