Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1973 tornadoes in Florida

45 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1973, 9 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 94.

1972 1974 The whole country in 1973

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 1973

January 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 18	8:00 PM CST	F0	Escambia	0.3	10			under $50

January 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 21	11:45 AM CST	F0	Escambia	0.3	10			$50 to $500

January 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 22	9:45 AM EST	F1	Polk	1.5	20			$5,000 to $50,000
January 22	9:56 AM EST	F1	Hillsborough	0.3	30		8	$5,000 to $50,000

January 28 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 28	11:35 AM EST	F1	Pasco	2.0	20	1	$5,000 to $50,000
January 28	12:15 PM EST	F2	Osceola	14.0	100	7	$500,000 to $5 million
January 28	12:42 PM EST	F2	Orange	2.7	300	16	$500,000 to $5 million
January 28	1:30 PM EST	F2	Brevard	5.1	50		$5,000 to $50,000

February 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 9	11:28 PM EST	F2	Martin	2.0	30		1	$50,000 to $500,000

March 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 8	6:20 PM EST	F1	Highlands	0.3	20			$50 to $500
March 8	12:20 AM EST	F2	Marion	1.5	100		6	$50,000 to $500,000

March 17 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 17	3:00 AM EST	F1	Pinellas	1.0	50		$5,000 to $50,000
March 17	3:45 AM EST	F2	Pasco	0.3	20	1	$5,000 to $50,000
March 17	4:00 AM EST	F1	Polk	0.5	50		$5,000 to $50,000
March 17	4:00 AM EST	F2	Polk	0.3	20		$5,000 to $50,000
March 17	5:00 AM EST	F1	Brevard	0.3	20		$500 to $5,000

April 3 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 3	1:30 AM EST	F1	Manatee	0.2	20	$5,000 to $50,000
April 3	1:45 AM EST	F1	Pasco	0.2	20	$5,000 to $50,000
April 3	12:15 PM EST	F1	Liberty	0.2	20	$5,000 to $50,000

April 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	6:15 AM EST	F2	Alachua	39.0	67		4	$50,000 to $500,000

April 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 7	10:53 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000
April 7	12:01 AM EST	F0	Sarasota	0.2	20			$50 to $500

April 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	3:00 AM EST	F0	Indian River	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000

April 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 25	6:23 PM EST	F1	Gadsden	0.2	20			$5,000 to $50,000
April 25	10:15 PM EST	F1	Duval	12.1	20			$50,000 to $500,000

April 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 26	11:04 AM CST	F1	Bay	0.5	33	6	$500,000 to $5 million
April 26	4:00 PM EST	F0	Suwannee	0.2	20		$5,000 to $50,000
April 26	4:00 PM EST	F0	Marion	0.5	20		$500 to $5,000

May 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	2:20 PM EDT	F0	Orange	0.2	20		1	$5,000 to $50,000
May 25	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000

May 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	1:00 PM CDT	F2	Escambia	105.4	20	1	4	$5,000 to $50,000
May 26	3:20 PM CDT	F1	Escambia	0.5	20		7	$50,000 to $500,000

May 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 29	10:00 PM EDT	F0	Baker	2.0	20			$500 to $5,000

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	11:40 PM EDT	F0	DeSoto	0.2	20		3	$500 to $5,000

June 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	8:00 PM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.2	10			$5,000 to $50,000

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	4:56 PM EDT	F0	Pasco	0.2	10			$500 to $5,000

June 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 23	12:32 PM CDT	F0		0.2	10			$50 to $500

July 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 12	7:45 PM EDT	F0	Seminole	0.2	10			$500 to $5,000

August 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 19	4:12 PM EDT	F1	Sarasota	0.5	67			$500,000 to $5 million

October 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 7	5:25 PM EDT	F1	Lee	2.3	33			$50,000 to $500,000

October 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 31	11:13 AM CST	F0	Okaloosa	0.3	20		3	$50,000 to $500,000
October 31	10:30 PM EST	F2	Pinellas	27.9	100		17	$500,000 to $5 million

December 20 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 20	1:15 PM CST	F2		7.6	33		9	$500,000 to $5 million
December 20	1:30 PM CST	F1		8.7	17			$50,000 to $500,000

December 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 25	3:40 PM CST	F1	Escambia	1.0	33			$5,000 to $50,000

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.