Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1986 tornadoes in Florida

53 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1986, about the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1985 1987 The whole country in 1986

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 1986

February 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 7	1:35 PM CST	F0		0.5	10

February 8 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
February 8	7:35 AM EST	F0	Pasco	0.5	10		$500 to $5,000
February 8	10:00 AM EST	F0	Volusia	5.0	10	1	$5,000 to $50,000
February 8	12:00 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.5	10	4	$5,000 to $50,000
February 8	12:45 PM EST	F2	Polk	2.0	10		$50,000 to $500,000

February 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 10	9:20 AM CST	F1	Jackson	1.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000

February 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 11	10:45 AM EST	F1	Polk	0.5	10		4	$5,000 to $50,000

March 14 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 14	5:17 AM EST	F2	Alachua	2.0	10	$500,000 to $5 million
March 14	5:30 AM EST	F1	Marion	1.0	10	$500 to $5,000
March 14	6:30 AM EST	F1	Lake	2.0	10	$500 to $5,000
March 14	7:15 AM EST	F0	Saint Johns	1.0	10	$500 to $5,000
March 14	7:22 AM EST	F0	Flagler	0.5	10
March 14	7:40 AM EST	F0	Flagler	1.0	10	$5,000 to $50,000
March 14	7:54 AM EST	F0	Volusia	1.0	10	$50 to $500
March 14	8:30 AM EST	F1	Marion	2.0	10	$500 to $5,000
March 14	9:45 AM EST	F1	Volusia	1.0	10	$5,000 to $50,000
March 14	1:45 PM EST	F0	Broward	1.0	10

March 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 20	10:45 AM EST	F0	Duval	2.0	10		1	$5,000 to $50,000

May 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 9	3:45 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	30			$50 to $500
May 9	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	30			$50 to $500

May 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	3:17 PM EDT	F0	Pasco	1.0	30			$500 to $5,000

May 20 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 20	2:20 AM EDT	F0	Pinellas	1.0	30	$500 to $5,000
May 20	3:00 PM EDT	F0	Orange	2.0	30	$5,000 to $50,000
May 20	7:00 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	2.0	30	$500 to $5,000

June 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	3:34 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	20
June 3	5:15 PM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.5	20			$50 to $500

June 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 7	6:30 PM EDT	F0	Nassau	0.5	20			$50 to $500

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	4:00 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.5	20			$50 to $500

June 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	8:20 AM EDT	F0	Pinellas	2.0	40			$5,000 to $50,000

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	3:10 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	4:15 AM EDT	F1	Monroe	0.1	30			$50,000 to $500,000

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	1:45 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.5	20

June 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Citrus	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

July 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 5	2:15 PM EDT	F0	Polk	1.0	30			$500 to $5,000

July 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 14	4:00 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.1	10

August 1 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 1	5:15 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	1.0	30			$50 to $500
August 1	7:15 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	0.5	30			$50 to $500

August 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 9	4:30 PM EDT	F2	Lee	1.5	200		12	$500,000 to $5 million

August 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 12	4:15 PM EDT	F0	Columbia	1.0	30

August 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 25	2:47 PM EDT	F0	Levy	1.0	30			under $50
August 25	5:55 PM EDT	F1	Lee	6.0	50		1	$500,000 to $5 million

August 28 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 28	12:00 PM EDT	F0	Broward	1.0	30	$500 to $5,000
August 28	1:15 PM EDT	F0	Saint Lucie	1.0	30	$500 to $5,000
August 28	1:20 PM EDT	F0	Martin	1.0	30	$5,000 to $50,000

September 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 2	6:15 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.5	30			$50,000 to $500,000

September 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 8	1:20 PM EDT	F0	Broward	1.0	30

September 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 23	5:00 PM EDT	F0	DeSoto	1.0	30			$500 to $5,000

October 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 29	9:49 AM EST	F1	Brevard	1.5	30		4	$5,000 to $50,000

December 23 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 23	1:00 PM EST	F0	Seminole	0.5	30			$50,000 to $500,000
December 23	5:02 PM EST	F0	Marion	2.0	30			$50,000 to $500,000

December 31 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
December 31	3:45 PM EST	F0	Palm Beach	1.0	30		$50,000 to $500,000
December 31	7:06 PM EST	F1	Palm Beach	1.0	30	7	$50,000 to $500,000
December 31	7:10 PM EST	F0	Saint Lucie	0.5	30		$500 to $5,000

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.