8 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:01 UTC.
8 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Two waterspouts moved ashore at Seagrove Beach along Walton County Road 30A and Seacrest Drive. Eleven homes heavily damaged and one destroyed.
An F1 tornado touched down five miles southeast of Vernon near Greenhead on Highway 279. Three barns, a pickup truck and a doublewide trailer were destroyed. Two homes sustained roof damage. Numerous trees were uprooted.
Two F1 tornados reported along Highway 277 near Vernon. Several homes suffered considerable roof damage. A mobile home was damaged between Vernon and Wausau on Highway 79.
An F1 tornado lifted a roof off a barn four miles west of Malone. Many large trees toppled and some fences destroyed.
A small F0 tornado observed from Heritage Woods Road to the St. Andrew Marina. No damage reported.
F1 tornado destroyed one home five miles west of Blountstown. One minor injury reported.
Numerous public sightings of a small tornado moving through East Heritage subdivision near Hiland Park. Minor roof damage reported.
F0 tornado inflicted structural damage to Woolworths department store on US Highway 90 in Marianna. Numerous 12" diameter trees snapped.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 1997Warnings in Florida, October 1997
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: 5622087, 5622088, 5622089, 5622090, 5622091, 5622332, 5622331, 5622404.