Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1971 tornadoes in Florida

59 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1971, 19 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1970 1972 The whole country in 1971

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1971

January 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 15	11:05 AM CST	F0	Washington	0.3	17			$50 to $500

February 7 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
February 7	3:18 AM CST	F3	Escambia	1.0	100	112	$500,000 to $5 million
February 7	4:15 AM CST	F0	Escambia	0.1	10
February 7	2:00 PM EST	F2	Bradford	2.0	33	1	$5,000 to $50,000
February 7	2:00 PM EST	F2	Clay	2.0	33		$5,000 to $50,000
February 7	2:35 PM EST	F3	Saint Johns	13.1	200		$50,000 to $500,000

February 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 8	12:00 PM EST	F0	Palm Beach	0.1	10

March 3 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 3	2:20 PM EST	F1	Sarasota	0.5	33
March 3	2:31 PM EST	F1	Pasco	0.3	10	$500 to $5,000
March 3	3:20 PM EST	F0	Hillsborough	0.3	10	$500 to $5,000
March 3	3:40 PM EST	F0	Hillsborough	0.1	10
March 3	4:00 PM EST	F1	Polk	0.5	50	$500 to $5,000
March 3	4:20 PM EST	F1	Sarasota	1.0	17	$500 to $5,000
March 3	5:40 PM EST	F2	Lee	0.3	20	$5,000 to $50,000

March 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 7	6:20 AM EST	F2	Lake	0.3	30			$500 to $5,000

April 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 15	5:32 PM EST	F0	Hillsborough	0.3	33			$500 to $5,000

May 8 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 8	2:05 PM CDT	F1	Escambia	2.0	100	$50 to $500
May 8	2:25 PM CDT	F1	Santa Rosa	2.0	100	$50 to $500
May 8	2:45 PM CDT	F2	Okaloosa	2.0	200	$5,000 to $50,000
May 8	6:00 PM EDT	F1	Jefferson	6.5	100	$500 to $5,000

May 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	5:30 PM EDT	F1	Alachua	0.3	30			$50 to $500

May 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 12	10:00 AM CDT	F2	Escambia	10.2	200			$5,000 to $50,000
May 12	3:00 PM CDT	F2	Okaloosa	2.0	100			$5,000 to $50,000

May 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 13	6:24 AM EDT	F0	Orange	2.0	30

May 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 19	9:12 AM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.3	17

June 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	4:45 PM EDT	F1	Highlands	0.3	20			$500 to $5,000

June 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 13	2:45 PM EDT	F2	Broward	4.5	50			$5,000 to $50,000

June 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	4:30 PM EDT	F1	Hardee	0.3	50			$500 to $5,000
June 18	6:15 PM EDT	F2	Highlands	1.0	20			$5,000 to $50,000

June 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	3:00 PM CDT	F2		2.0	200			$5,000 to $50,000

June 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	4:30 PM EDT	F0	Osceola	0.3	50			under $50

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	5:36 PM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	1.0	50

July 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	8:00 PM EDT	F1	Sarasota	0.3	20			$50 to $500

July 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	2:30 PM EDT	F1	Suwannee	0.3	50			$500 to $5,000

July 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 10	5:20 PM EDT	F1	Hillsborough	1.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	3:00 PM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	0.3	20

July 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 22	2:30 PM EDT	F0	Polk	1.0	20

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	1:15 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.3	10

July 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 26	8:40 PM EDT	F1	Polk	1.0	500			$50 to $500

July 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 28	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Hillsborough	0.3	20

July 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 29	8:05 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	0.3	20			under $50

August 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 2	7:45 PM EDT	F1	Hillsborough	0.3	20			under $50

August 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 4	6:45 PM EDT	F2	Brevard	4.1	77			$5,000 to $50,000
August 4	6:57 PM EDT	F1	Brevard	4.1	27			$500 to $5,000

August 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 24	6:30 PM EDT	F1	Osceola	0.3	50			under $50

August 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 27	5:45 PM EDT	F2	Volusia	0.3	50		1	$500 to $5,000
August 27	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Brevard	0.3	50			under $50

August 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 29	6:50 PM EDT	F1	Sarasota	0.3	20			$50 to $500

September 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 9	4:45 PM EDT	F0	Madison	0.1	10

September 10 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 10	11:13 AM EDT	F0	Sarasota	0.3	20
September 10	7:30 PM EDT	F1	Brevard	0.3	20

September 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 16	8:45 PM CDT	F1	Escambia	4.1	100		1	$5,000 to $50,000

October 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 17	4:15 PM EDT	F1	Hillsborough	0.3	10			$5,000 to $50,000

November 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 29	12:55 PM EST	F2	Polk	0.5	50			$5,000 to $50,000

December 3 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
December 3	10:00 AM EST	F1	Sarasota	6.4	100		$5,000 to $50,000
December 3	11:00 AM EST	F2	Sarasota	4.9	100	3	$5,000 to $50,000
December 3	12:00 PM EST	F1	Manatee	6.8	100	2	$5,000 to $50,000
December 3	12:00 PM EST	F2	Sarasota	5.9	50		$5,000 to $50,000
December 3	1:45 PM EST	F2	Sarasota	7.3	100	5	$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Florida since 1950 Warnings in force in Florida The 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.