Tornadoes · United States · Florida

2002 tornadoes in Florida

43 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 2002, 13 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2001 2003 The whole country in 2002

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 2002

January 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 2	3:40 PM EST	F1	Miami-Dade	10.0	50			$50,000

April 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 3	12:32 PM EST	F0	Hardee	0.5	33

May 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	5:00 PM EDT	F0	Saint Lucie	0.1	20			$20,000

May 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 17	7:45 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	33			$20,000

May 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 30	10:07 AM EDT	F0	Miami-Dade	0.1	10

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	6:55 PM EDT	F0	Glades	0.5	15			$30,000

June 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 5	6:30 PM EDT	F0	Hillsborough	3.0	100			$150,000
June 5	6:45 PM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.1	20

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	3:40 PM EDT	F0	Pinellas	1.0	40			$500,000

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	5:40 PM EDT	F0	Charlotte	0.3	20			$10,000

June 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Charlotte	1.0	40

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	6:40 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	0.1	20

June 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	3:00 PM EDT	F0	Marion	0.1	0			$2,000

June 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 24	10:35 AM CDT	F0	Escambia	0.1	10

July 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	2:30 PM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.5	40			$20,000

July 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 12	8:30 AM EDT	F0	Pinellas	0.5	40			$1,000

July 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 13	11:30 AM EDT	F0	Charlotte	0.5	40

July 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 19	7:00 PM EDT	F0	Saint Johns	0.0	0			$10,000

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	5:00 PM EDT	F0	Alachua	0.0	0			$10,000

July 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 25	5:45 PM EDT	F0	Polk	1.0	40			$20,000

July 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 27	12:05 PM EDT	F1	Saint Lucie	0.1	30			$100,000

July 29 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 29	3:35 PM EDT	F1	Glades	1.0	20	$20,000
July 29	4:37 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	2.0	60	$10,000
July 29	5:38 PM EDT	F0	Lee	0.5	40

August 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 2	4:15 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.5	10			$30,000

August 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 6	6:05 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.1	10			$10,000

August 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 14	4:50 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.5	40

September 25 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
September 25	2:30 PM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.2	30		$20,000
September 25	4:00 PM CDT	F1	Walton	1.0	100		$400,000
September 25	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Walton	1.0	100		$550,000
September 25	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	2.0	75	1	$150,000
September 25	6:35 PM CDT	F0	Holmes	0.2	50		$100,000
September 25	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.1	20		$30,000

October 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 14	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.2	30			$50,000

October 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 15	1:55 PM EDT	F1	Citrus	5.0	100			$500,000

November 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
November 5	11:15 AM CST	F0	Escambia	0.1	20
November 5	3:10 PM CST	F0	Santa Rosa	0.1	20	$10,000
November 5	4:38 PM CST	F0	Holmes	0.1	50	$10,000

November 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 10	6:15 PM EST	F0	Franklin	0.1	50			$10,000

December 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 13	11:55 AM EST	F1	Indian River	1.2	60		1	$110,000

December 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 24	5:25 AM CST	F0	Santa Rosa	0.3	30			$140,000

December 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 31	9:47 AM CST	F1	Okaloosa	0.5	40			$600,000
December 31	11:10 PM EST	F0	Sarasota	2.0	30			$10,000

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.