Tornadoes · United States · Florida

1997 tornadoes in Florida

115 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 1997, 132 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1996 1998 The whole country in 1997

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 1997

January 9 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
January 9	8:20 AM EST	F0	Suwannee	1.5	30	$100,000
January 9	2:35 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.1	10	$3,000
January 9	4:12 PM EST	F0	Sarasota	0.1	10
January 9	11:40 PM EST	F1	Palm Beach	1.0	23	$70,000

January 15 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 15	9:45 PM CST	F1	Santa Rosa	1.1	50		$100,000
January 15	10:49 PM CST	F1	Walton	0.2	73		$10,000
January 15	11:12 PM CST	F1	Washington	0.2	50	3	$30,000
January 15	11:14 PM CST	F1	Washington	0.2	50		$50,000
January 15	11:43 PM CST	F2	Calhoun	0.5	150	1	$50,000
January 15	11:45 PM CST	F1	Calhoun	0.5	50		$50,000

January 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 16	1:20 AM EST	F1	Gadsden	0.5	73			$1,000

January 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 28	5:06 PM EST	F0	Palm Beach	0.5	23

February 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 13	5:55 PM EST	F0	Saint Johns	0.2	20			$10,000

March 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 14	8:49 AM EST	F0	Sarasota	0.1	10			$10,000

April 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 14	3:05 PM EDT	F0	Collier	4.0	100			$200,000

April 23 22 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 23	8:10 AM EDT	F0	Levy	1.2	10		$20,000
April 23	9:10 AM EDT	F0	Hernando	0.1	10
April 23	9:10 AM EDT	F0	Hernando	0.2	10
April 23	9:30 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	0.1	20
April 23	9:30 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	0.1	20
April 23	9:35 AM EDT	F0	Citrus	1.0	10		$110,000
April 23	9:40 AM EDT	F0	Hernando	1.0	10	1	$150,000
April 23	9:55 AM EDT	F0	Hernando	16.0	10		$500,000
April 23	10:10 AM EDT	F0	Sumter	2.3	10		$200,000
April 23	10:15 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	0.3	30		$60,000
April 23	10:15 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	0.3	30		$60,000
April 23	10:20 AM EDT	F0	Lake	0.3	30		$150,000
April 23	10:20 AM EDT	F0	Lake	0.3	30		$150,000
April 23	10:44 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	1.2	30		$120,000
April 23	10:44 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	1.2	30		$120,000
April 23	10:50 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	3.0	30		$250,000
April 23	10:50 AM EDT	F0	Volusia	3.0	30		$250,000
April 23	11:38 AM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.1	10
April 23	11:46 AM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	0.1	10		$10,000
April 23	12:45 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	0.1	10
April 23	1:10 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	0.1	10		$60,000
April 23	3:10 PM EDT	F0	Sarasota	0.1	10		$30,000

April 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	10:15 AM EDT	F0	Manatee	1.0	10			$2,000

April 28 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 28	11:55 AM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	2.7	50	1	$500,000
April 28	12:30 PM EDT	F0	Charlotte	0.6	10		$30,000
April 28	1:23 PM EDT	F0	DeSoto	3.0	10		$2,000
April 28	1:45 PM EDT	F0	DeSoto	0.1	10
April 28	2:00 PM EDT	F0	Highlands	0.2	10

May 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 3	3:30 PM EDT	F0	Glades	1.5	50		2	$30,000

May 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 4	3:20 PM CDT	F0		0.1	20

May 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 12	12:53 PM CDT	F1		8.0	150		12	$530,000

May 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 22	6:37 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.8	10			$30,000
May 22	9:35 PM EDT	F1	Monroe	0.3	23			$150,000

May 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 28	3:06 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.1	10			$10,000
May 28	4:45 PM CDT	F0		0.5	23

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	5:30 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.1	23

June 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 1	1:00 PM EDT	F0	Orange	0.2	30			$20,000

June 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 5	8:11 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.1	10			$3,000

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	7:00 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.5	23

June 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	2:20 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.2	10			$20,000
June 11	6:40 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.1	10			$20,000

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	5:45 PM EDT	F1	Broward	1.0	50		1	$1.0 million

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	5:45 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.1	23

June 20 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	7:44 PM EDT	F0	DeSoto	0.1	10			$1,000
June 20	8:45 PM EDT	F0	Glades	0.2	23

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	8:30 PM EDT	F0	Collier	0.2	23

June 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	2:37 PM EDT	F0	Lee	2.7	10			$210,000

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	3:50 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.1	10			$1,000

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	1:30 PM CDT	F0		0.2	10			$2,000

July 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 4	4:38 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.2	23
July 4	5:45 PM EDT	F1	Osceola	0.5	40			$200,000

July 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 5	1:30 PM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	0.3	10	$100,000
July 5	3:05 PM EDT	F0	Osceola	0.1	80	$2,000
July 5	4:30 PM EDT	F0	Volusia	0.2	30	$30,000

July 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	6:10 PM EDT	F0	Collier	0.2	13

July 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 10	11:00 AM CDT	F0		0.2	13

July 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	1:58 PM EDT	F0	Osceola	0.3	30

July 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 15	3:31 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.2	23

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	2:45 PM EDT	F0	Brevard	0.1	50

July 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 24	5:25 PM EDT	F0	Charlotte	0.2	10			$4,000

August 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 6	2:15 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.2	23

August 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 10	4:35 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.5	10

August 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 11	8:00 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.1	10

August 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 20	6:18 PM EDT	F0	Highlands	0.8	10			$100,000

August 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 24	11:30 PM EDT	F0	Monroe	0.2	23

September 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 15	8:00 AM EDT	F0	Monroe	0.2	23

October 24 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 24	7:00 AM CDT	F1	Bay	1.0	150	1	$350,000
October 24	12:35 PM CDT	F1	Calhoun	0.5	73		$100,000
October 24	12:45 PM CDT	F1	Bay	0.5	73	2	$40,000
October 24	2:40 PM EDT	F1	Gadsden	0.3	150		$200,000

October 26 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 26	7:00 AM CST	F1	Walton	1.0	100		$500,000
October 26	7:30 AM CST	F1	Washington	1.0	123		$350,000
October 26	8:00 AM CST	F1	Washington	1.5	100		$250,000
October 26	8:15 AM CST	F1	Jackson	1.5	100		$100,000
October 26	8:55 AM CST	F0	Bay	0.5	50
October 26	10:26 AM CST	F1	Calhoun	0.3	100	1	$50,000
October 26	10:30 AM CST	F0	Bay	1.0	73		$20,000
October 26	10:40 AM CST	F0	Jackson	1.0	100		$70,000
October 26	8:15 PM EST	F0	Hamilton	0.5	10		$3,000

October 27 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 27	8:42 AM EST	F1	Pinellas	9.5	50	4	$4.5 million
October 27	8:48 AM EST	F0	Pinellas	0.1	10		$2,000
October 27	9:05 AM EST	F0	Hillsborough	0.2	10		$100,000
October 27	9:26 AM EST	F1	Hillsborough	3.8	10		$120,000

October 31 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 31	12:00 PM EST	F0	Sarasota	0.1	10
October 31	12:25 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.1	10	$10,000
October 31	12:58 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.1	10	$10,000
October 31	1:17 PM EST	F0	Manatee	0.3	10	$60,000
October 31	2:15 PM EST	F1	Polk	4.0	23	$400,000
October 31	2:30 PM EST	F1	Polk	0.5	30	$50,000
October 31	5:12 PM EST	F0	Hillsborough	1.0	10	$10,000

November 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 1	12:45 AM EST	F3	Volusia	3.0	400		32	$14 million

November 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 2	12:05 PM EST	F0	DeSoto	0.1	10			$10,000

November 13 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
November 13	1:55 PM EST	F0	Polk	0.2	10	$70,000
November 13	3:43 PM EST	F0	Brevard	8.0	50	$10,000
November 13	6:00 PM CST	F0	Gulf	0.1	30	$10,000

December 10 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 10	6:00 AM EST	F0	Duval	0.5	13			$10,000
December 10	7:20 AM EST	F0	Columbia	8.2	10			$10,000

December 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
December 27	3:56 AM EST	F0	Polk	1.0	30		$200,000
December 27	4:08 AM EST	F2	Polk	5.8	150	18	$6.0 million
December 27	4:45 AM EST	F1	Osceola	0.4	80		$1.5 million

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.