Sarasota County, Florida severe weather history spans 385 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 38.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,314 nationally and #33 in Florida.
385
Recorded events
7
Direct deaths
85
Direct injuries
$65.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Sarasota County, Florida severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Sarasota County, Florida severe weather history averages 5.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 163 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 81 events fall before 1990 and 304 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Sarasota County, Florida record is lightning, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $45.6M in reported property damage. In total, 12 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Sarasota County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 149 | 1 | $2.6M | 71 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 84 | 2 | $45.6M | F3 | 1951–2023 |
| Hail | 48 | 0 | $54K | 1.75 | 1969–2017 |
| Flood | 34 | 1 | $12.5M | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Lightning | 27 | 3 | $1.2M | 0 | 1996–2020 |
| Waterspout | 11 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2001 |
| Heavy Rain | 11 | 0 | $147K | 0 | 1996–2014 |
| Flash Flood | 10 | 0 | $3.5M | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Wildfire | 6 | 0 | $460K | 0 | 1999–2001 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2012 |
| Rip Current | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2005 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Sarasota County, Florida severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
78 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 75 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-03-17 | EF3 | 2 | 45 | 3.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2016-01-17 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 1.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-12-03 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 4.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1971-12-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-02-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-11-09 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 4.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-11-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-03-16 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Sarasota County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 1985 | Tornado | 2 | 45 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 24, 2018 | Lightning | PINE SHRS | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 26, 2017 | Flood | LONGBOAT KEY | 1 | 0 | $50K |
| Aug 26, 2016 | Lightning | NEWTON HGTS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2014 | Lightning | SOUTH SARASOTA | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Dec 26, 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | VENICE | 1 | 0 | $30K |
| Aug 21, 1987 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Apr 7, 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | VENICE | 0 | 5 | $10K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Heavy rain started to fall over Sarasota County on the 26th and continued through the 28th, with as much as 16 inches of rainfall. The highest rain totals were reported along the coast, with 14.74 inches falling in 3 days at the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport in Manatee County. This led to numerous reports of streets flooding across the area, mainly on the 26th through early morning on the 27th.||One fatality was reported in Sarasota County on the afternoon of the 27th, when a 73 year old man driving through a flooded parking lot at the dog track in Sarasota ended up in a drainage ditch and drowned inside the vehicle. A separate car also drove into the drainage ditch in the same parking lot, but was able to escape unharmed.
A 77 year-old male died from the combined effects of a heart attack and hypothermia when his 21 foot fishing boat was overturned by two estimated 18-20 foot waves, approximately 10 miles southwest of Venice, Florida. The sudden and large waves were generated by estimated winds of 25 to 40 mph from a fast-moving cold front that extended from the Eastern Gulf of Mexico northeast across West Central Florida.
An NWS Storm Survey crew found damage to multiple homes and structures along the path of the tornado. One home on Siesta Key had the second floor collapse on to the first. Two people were injured in that home. The tornado was 350 yards wide as it came ashore on Siesta Key before narrowing to around 100 yards wide as it crossed the intercoastal waterways.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
459,547
Population (ACS)
$412K
Median home value
48
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | DR |
| Oct 7, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | EM |
| Sep 28, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | DR |
| Sep 24, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | EM |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR |
| Aug 3, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Sarasota 104
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Sarasota County, Florida?
385 events are on record between 1951 and 2025, causing 7 direct deaths and $65.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Sarasota County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 149 recorded events — 38.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Sarasota County?
78 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 75 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Sarasota County?
48 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Sarasota County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Sarasota County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sarasota County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 98 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Sarasota County, Florida severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Santa Rosa County 663
- Seminole County 363
- St. Lucie County 248
- Sumter County 165
- St. Johns County 786
- Suwannee County 432
Cite this page
“Sarasota County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/sarasota-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.