Clay County, Florida severe weather history spans 596 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 50.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #594 nationally and #24 in Florida.
596
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
21
Direct injuries
$6.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Clay County, Florida severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Clay County, Florida severe weather history averages 8.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 189 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 66 events fall before 1990 and 530 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Clay County, Florida record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $4.3M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Clay County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 300 | 1 | $489K | 78 | 1957–2026 |
| Hail | 120 | 0 | $0 | 2 | 1956–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 86 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2025 |
| Tornado | 27 | 0 | $4.3M | F2 | 1953–2024 |
| Lightning | 23 | 1 | $1.4M | 0 | 2000–2026 |
| Flood | 21 | 0 | $21K | 0 | 2002–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 11 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $105K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Wildfire | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–1999 |
| Waterspout | 1 | 0 | $5K | 55 | 1996–1996 |
Decade by decade
Clay County, Florida severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
28 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 24 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-03-29 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-02-27 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1971-02-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-06-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-02-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-10-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-01-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2004-09-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-11-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Clay County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2020 | Lightning | MILL CREEK | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 21, 1991 | Thunderstorm Wind | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Jun 8, 2001 | Lightning | CAMP BLNDG | 0 | 5 | $0 |
| Jan 22, 1972 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $3K | |
| Feb 7, 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | MC RAE | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 10, 1998 | Wildfire | GREEN COVE SPGS | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Feb 27, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 9, 2018 | Lightning | LAKE GENEVA | 0 | 1 | $1.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Three people working for Red Stag Contracting were struck by a lightning strike along Iris Street in Middleburg while working on a roof. All victims were transported to Orange Park Medical Center. One victim, a 35 year old male, was struck directly and went into cardiac arrest. He was revived via CPR on scene and was later transferred to the UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. He remained in a coma until his passing on 6/9/2020, at 15:45 EDT.
Tornado was mainly F0-F1. Large trees were uprooted and power lines were blown down. Two homes were destroyed, 4 with major damage, and 50 with minor damage. A total of 56 homes in the Highlands Avenue area were damaged.
A 67 year old male was struck by lightning on his front porch along Acadia Street in Keystone Heights, near Lake Geneva. The time of the event was based on lightning data. Shed was burned down which caused over $1M in damage to vintage cars and motorcycles.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
227,584
Population (ACS)
$313K
Median home value
39
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 2026 | Fire | RAILROAD COMPLEX FIRE | FM |
| Oct 11, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | DR |
| Oct 7, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | EM |
| Sep 28, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | DR |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR |
| Aug 3, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Clay County, Florida?
596 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $6.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Clay County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 300 recorded events — 50.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Clay County?
28 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 24 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Clay County?
39 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Clay County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Clay County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Clay County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 81 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Clay 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
- Citrus County 358
- Collier County 418
- Charlotte County 261
- Columbia County 409
- Calhoun County 218
- Broward County 1,172
Cite this page
“Clay County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/clay-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.