Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1960 tornadoes in Florida

31 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1960, 37 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 9.

1959 1961 The whole country in 1960

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Florida in 1960

February 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 134:00 PM GMT-5F1Polk0.127$500 to $5,000

February 18 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 183:42 AM GMT-6F2Bay7.6400$50,000 to $500,000
February 1810:00 AM GMT-5F1Hillsborough0.5100$5,000 to $50,000

February 25 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 256:15 AM GMT-5F2Duval0.11002$5,000 to $50,000
February 256:30 AM GMT-5F3Columbia0.8100$50,000 to $500,000
February 257:00 AM GMT-5F0Duval0.133$5,000 to $50,000

March 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 35:30 AM GMT-5F2Lake0.1106$50,000 to $500,000

March 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 151:40 PM GMT-5F1Polk1.0100$50,000 to $500,000

March 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 169:00 AM GMT-5F1Hillsborough0.110under $50
March 169:25 AM GMT-5F0Hillsborough0.550$50,000 to $500,000

March 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 175:30 PM GMT-5F0Hillsborough0.110under $50

March 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 304:00 AM GMT-6F2Walton0.110$500 to $5,000

April 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 34:30 AM GMT-6F2Bay0.110$50,000 to $500,000

April 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 104:00 PM GMT-5F2Leon0.177$500 to $5,000

May 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 26:00 PM GMT-4F0Hendry0.110under $50

June 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 42:45 PM GMT-4F2Clay0.110$500 to $5,000

June 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 87:30 PM GMT-4F1Osceola0.1101$500 to $5,000

June 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 193:30 PM GMT-4F1Hillsborough0.110$500 to $5,000

June 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 304:15 PM GMT-4F1Collier0.820$5,000 to $50,000

July 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 144:45 PM GMT-4F0Volusia0.110under $50

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 194:15 PM GMT-4F0Volusia0.110under $50

September 15 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 155:00 AM GMT-5F1Bay0.110$500 to $5,000
September 155:40 AM GMT-5F2Bay0.5200$50,000 to $500,000
September 157:55 AM GMT-5F0Gulf0.110
September 1512:00 PM GMT-5F1Santa Rosa0.110under $50

September 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 255:20 PM GMT-4F1Palm Beach0.123$500 to $5,000

September 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 291:05 PM GMT-4F1Hillsborough0.110$50 to $500

October 7 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 72:25 PM GMT-4F0Saint Lucie0.110$5,000 to $50,000
October 76:40 PM GMT-4F0Duval0.110$50 to $500

October 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 3110:30 AM GMT-5F2Lee0.1101$500 to $5,000

November 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 286:30 PM GMT-6F2Escambia5.650$500 to $5,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in FloridaThe live radar over Florida

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.