Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1985 tornadoes in Florida

35 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1985, 29 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 56.

1984 1986 The whole country in 1985

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 1985

January 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 17	5:15 AM CST	F0	Bay	1.0	10			$5,000 to $50,000

February 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 11	5:20 AM CST	F1	Escambia	0.6	10			$500 to $5,000

March 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 15	11:08 AM EST	F1	Pinellas	0.3	10		2	$500 to $5,000

March 17 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 17	4:30 AM EST	F3	Sarasota	3.0	400	2	45	$5 million to $50 million
March 17	5:30 AM EST	F0	DeSoto	0.5	10			$500 to $5,000
March 17	9:49 AM EST	F1	Okeechobee	5.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000
March 17	9:30 PM CST	F1	Bay	0.5	10		1	$50,000 to $500,000

May 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	4:30 AM CDT	F0	Walton	0.5	10			$5,000 to $50,000
May 2	5:55 PM EDT	F0	Leon	0.5	10			$50 to $500

May 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 3	11:50 AM EDT	F0	Sarasota	1.0	10			$500 to $5,000

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	4:15 PM EDT	F1	Palm Beach	1.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	7:10 PM EDT	F1	Indian River	2.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000

June 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 4	6:45 PM EDT	F1	DeSoto	0.5	10			$50,000 to $500,000

June 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	10:30 AM EDT	F1	Alachua	1.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000

July 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 22	1:50 PM EDT	F0	Brevard	0.5	10			$500 to $5,000

July 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 24	6:30 PM EDT	F0	Hernando	0.5	10		1	$50 to $500

July 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 25	5:00 PM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	0.5	10			$50 to $500

August 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 1	1:01 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.5	10		1	$50 to $500

August 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 5	1:20 PM CDT	F0		0.5	10			$500 to $5,000
August 5	3:05 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.5	10

August 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 28	11:30 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.5	10

August 31 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 31	3:30 AM EDT	F1	Pasco	0.5	10	$50,000 to $500,000
August 31	6:30 AM EDT	F1	Marion	1.0	20	$5,000 to $50,000
August 31	8:30 AM EDT	F2	Lake	5.0	50	$500,000 to $5 million
August 31	2:20 PM EDT	F0	Glades	0.5	10	$500 to $5,000
August 31	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Lake	2.0	20	$500 to $5,000

September 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 1	1:45 PM EDT	F0	Duval	1.0	20			$500 to $5,000

September 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 12	4:15 PM EDT	F0	Citrus	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

October 28 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 28	3:00 AM CST	F0	Escambia	2.0	10		$5,000 to $50,000
October 28	5:30 AM CST	F1	Okaloosa	1.0	10	1	$500,000 to $5 million
October 28	6:40 AM CST	F1	Walton	2.0	10	5	$500,000 to $5 million
October 28	7:45 AM CST	F0	Okaloosa	12.0	10		$5,000 to $50,000

October 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 30	4:30 PM EST	F1	Nassau	3.0	20			$50,000 to $500,000

October 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 31	10:10 AM EST	F1	Hillsborough	3.0	20			$50,000 to $500,000
October 31	10:30 AM CST	F0	Washington	6.0	10			$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.