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Michaela Mulligan - Environment and Climate Reporter
Michaela Mulligan

Environment and Climate Reporter

Tampa Bay has been my home since around the time I took my first steps as a toddler. I took a short break away to pursue my passion for storytelling at the University of Florida. But now I’m back and excited to be telling the stories that make my home unique. When I’m not hunched in front of a computer or waiting in line for coffee, you can find me outside enjoying Florida’s beaches. Or when it’s just too hot, snuggled up inside with my two cats, Willow and Gabby, watching the latest home renovation show.

  1. Applied for Elevate Florida? Tell us your thoughts on the new state program
    • Environment
    A resident holds an Elevate Florida information sheet while listening during a presentation at the St. Petersburg Sunshine Center on March 13 in St. Petersburg.
  2. Florida’s hurricane season was unusually quiet. What happened?
    • Hurricane
    Construction materials and debris are gathered in a dumpster near homes and businesses in Gulfport on Sept. 16 as the recovery process continues a year after hurricanes Helene and Milton ravaged the area. The 2025 hurricane season will, with all certainty, conclude Sunday without a landfalling storm in the state.
  3. Why hurricanes pose extra risks for pregnant, postpartum women and their babies
    • Environment
    Jasmine Fernandez walks with her 1-year-old child at Skyway Park in Tampa on Oct. 27. Fernandez gave birth in August before Hurricane Helene, and she and her husband had to evacuate their Tampa home twice last year with their newborn. “It was super exhausting, and not in my own space,” Fernandez said.
  5. Tampa Bay is experiencing a moderate drought. Here’s what to know
    • Environment
    A biker rides on a path near some dry trees and grass along Upper Tampa Bay Trail near the Channel Park Pavilion on Thursday. Most of the area is under a moderate drought after earlier-than-normal dry conditions took hold in September.
  6. Why these shorebirds keep ending up at a Tampa Bay bird hospital
    • Environment
    Red knots are seen recovering at the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary on Wednesday in Indian Shores. Loss of food and habitat are leading to more of these birds becoming too fatigued to finish their migration to South America.
  7. Why Tampa Bay electric bills were so high in 2025
    • News
    Rayne DeJesus, a local activist and rap artist, center, holds up a sign regarding high energy bills, while he chants with other protesters during the Burn the Bill rally at the Dr. Walter L. Smith Library on Nov. 1 in Tampa.
  8. Here’s what people across Tampa Bay are paying for electricity
    • Environment
    This is a composite of several people the Tampa Bay Times spoke to about their electric bills, which many said were higher than ever this summer.
  9. Tampa Bay braces for record-breaking cold weather with shelters, advisories
    • Environment
    This was the scene on Pass-a-Grille Beach St. Pete Beach on a December day in 2020 when a cold front dropped temperatures in the 50s. The thermometer will plummet even more on Tuesday in a rare early season cold snap that could break records.
  10. Cold weather is coming to Tampa Bay. And hurricane season is on its way out
    • Environment
    This photo from January 2024 shows people on Clearwater Beach when temperatures were in the mid-50s. The coldest weather of the season is expected to arrive early next week, with morning lows in the 40s starting on Tuesday.
  11. Is Tampa Bay in for a cold Halloween? Here’s what to expect
    • Weather
    Laurel Walker, 10, from Tampa, looks for the perfect jack-o'-lantern at Gallagher’s Pumpkins and Christmas Trees in St. Petersburg on Monday. Tampa Bay’s coolest temperatures of the season are likely to arrive early this weekend, coinciding with the holiday festivities.
  12. Tropical Storm Melissa meandering in the Caribbean. Where it may go
    • Hurricane
    Federal forecasters say Tropical storm Melissa could become a hurricane by Friday as it meanders in the Caribbean Sea.
  13. What could be in store for Florida as forecasters watch Caribbean system?
    • Hurricane
    A system the National Hurricane Center is watching in the Caribbean Sea is likely to become Tropical Storm Melissa on Tuesday.
  14. Hurricane forecasters eyeing potential tropical development in Caribbean
    • Hurricane
    The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two potential systems in the Atlantic. One has a 30% chance of forming over the next week in the main tropical development zone of the Caribbean.
  15. 7 hurricanes that show how powerful late-season storms can be
    • Hurricane
    An aerial view of a downtown high-rise that was smashed by a fallen crane from Hurricane Milton at in St. Petersburg. The building housed the Tampa Bay Times and other businesses.
  16. Tampa Bay in for first cooldown in months. What it means for hurricanes
    • Environment
    Brody Cox, 23, of Britt, IA, fills a kiddie pool for his son, Kohen Cox, 1, while on vacation along Clearwater Beach. A cold front this weekend is likely to bring the first cooler weather of the season offering relief from the heat.
  17. After Tampa’s driest September ever, will tropical blob bring rain over weekend?
    • Environment
    Children with Sweet Peas Preschool tour the pumpkin patch in Dunedin under sunny, dry skies on Thursday. In Pinellas County, a St. Petersburg weather station recorded its sixth-driest September since records began in 1914.
  18. Atlantic storms keep curving back toward sea. How long will it last?
    • Hurricane
    An image of the Atlantic Ocean shows multiple tropical systems, including Hurricane Gabrielle and Tropical Storm Humberto.
  19. Hurricanes walloped Tampa Bay. A year later, how the area is recovering
    • Hurricane
    The Gulfport Casino, a popular venue and local landmark shown in this Sept. 16 photo, is still shut down after sustaining damage during last year's hurricane season.
  20. Hurricane season is in a lull. Is it expected to last?
    • Hurricane
    A thunderstorm brews over Clearwater Harbor on Monday. Elevated rain chances will continue this week until a dose of drier air is expected to arrive this weekend.
  21. Is our hurricane rating system outdated? A USF researcher suggests a change
    • Hurricane
    Jennifer Collins, a researcher and School of Geosciences at USF professor, is helping develop a new hurricane scale, called the Tropical Cyclone Severity Scale, which incorporates storm surge and rainfall in addition to wind.
  22. More rain coming to Tampa Bay this week after wet weekend
    • Environment
    Emanuela Baird of Hudson, right, pauses from her bartending shift at Dimitri’s on the Water to check the rising water along Dodecanese Boulevard as a thunderstorm sweeps through the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks Monday.
  23. Hurricane Erin still major hurricane. Forecasters eye second Atlantic system
    • Hurricane
    The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a tropical wave that could become a tropical depression by the latter part of this week.
  24. Hillsborough pet shelter is without AC. Why it’s not rare in Tampa Bay.
    • Environment
    A trio of dogs available for adoption rest inside one of the non-air-conditioned kennels on Aug. 1 at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center on Falkenburg Road in Tampa.