Climate of Florida - Tropical Cyclones

Tropical Cyclones

The earliest a tropical cyclone has struck the sunshine state was the Groundhog Day Tropical Storm in 1952. The latest impact was from a hurricane which struck near Tampa on December 1, 1925. The strongest hurricane to strike Florida was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. Hurricane Easy in 1950 produced the wettest known point total from any tropical cyclone. The record number of hurricane strikes on the state in one season is four in 2004. Hurricanes typically spawn tornadoes within their northeast quadrant.

Tropical cyclones have affected Florida in every month of the year but January and March. Nearly one-third of the cyclones affected the state in September, and nearly three-fourths of the storms affected the state between August and October, which coincides with the peak of the hurricane season. Portions of the coastline have the lowest return period, or the frequency at which a certain intensity or category of hurricane can be expected within 86 mi (139 km) of a given location, in the country. Monroe County was struck by 26 hurricanes since 1926, which is the greatest total for any county in the United States.