Thunderstorm Wind, Pinellas
- When
- March 3, 8:30 AM CST
- Where
- Pinellas County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 27.970, -82.750
Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 3, 1978
13 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $553,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 18
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
13 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Polk
- When
- March 3, 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Polk County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 27.880, -81.830
Thunderstorm Wind, Indian River
- When
- March 3, 11:23 AM CST
- Where
- Indian River County
- Coordinates
- 27.630, -80.400
Thunderstorm Wind, De Soto
- When
- March 3, 11:30 AM CST
- Where
- De Soto County
- Coordinates
- 27.130, -82.100
Tornado, Lee
- When
- March 3, 11:35 AM CST
- Where
- Lee County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 26.700, -82.150
Tornado, Charlotte
- When
- March 3, 11:45 AM CST
- Where
- Charlotte County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 26.930, -82.050
Thunderstorm Wind, Brevard
- When
- March 3, 12:00 PM CST
- Where
- Brevard County
- Coordinates
- 28.080, -80.600
Thunderstorm Wind, Highlands
- When
- March 3, 12:15 PM CST
- Where
- Highlands County
- Coordinates
- 27.250, -81.100
Thunderstorm Wind, Hendry
- When
- March 3, 12:25 PM CST
- Where
- Hendry County
- Coordinates
- 26.750, -80.900
Tornado, Broward
- When
- March 3, 12:30 PM CST
- Where
- Broward County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 27.300, -80.300
Tornado, Highlands
- When
- March 3, 12:35 PM CST
- Where
- Highlands County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 27.250, -80.830
Thunderstorm Wind, Hendry
- When
- March 3, 12:50 PM CST
- Where
- Hendry County
- Coordinates
- 26.750, -81.430
Thunderstorm Wind, Palm Beach
- When
- March 3, 1:15 PM CST
- Where
- Palm Beach County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 26.680, -80.670
Thunderstorm Wind, Martin
- When
- March 3, 1:30 PM CST
- Where
- Martin County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 26.850, -80.270
Thunderstorm Wind, Indian River
- When
- March 3, 1:45 PM CST
- Where
- Indian River County
- Coordinates
- 27.470, -80.400
Tornado, Palm Beach
- When
- March 3, 2:04 PM CST
- Where
- Palm Beach County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 26.620, -80.050
Thunderstorm Wind, Palm Beach
- When
- March 3, 2:35 PM CST
- Where
- Palm Beach County
- Coordinates
- 26.430, -80.080
Thunderstorm Wind, Miami-Dade
- When
- March 3, 3:10 PM CST
- Where
- Miami-Dade County
- Measured
- 66 kt (76 mph)
- Coordinates
- 25.950, -80.150
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
More
Every storm in Florida in 1978Every state in 1978This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 1978
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9999621, 9999622, 9999623, 9999624, 9999625, 9999626, 9999627, 9999628, 9999629, 9999630, 9999631, 9999632, 9999633, 9999634, 9999635, 9999636, 9999637, 9999638.