Okeechobee County, Florida severe weather history spans 138 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 37.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,750 nationally and #61 in Florida.
138
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
73
Direct injuries
$15.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Okeechobee County, Florida severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Okeechobee County, Florida severe weather history averages 2.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 37 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 31 events fall before 1990 and 107 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Okeechobee County, Florida record is tornado, responsible for 8 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $15.0M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Okeechobee County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 52 | 0 | $374K | 80 | 1968–2025 |
| Hail | 46 | 0 | $5K | 2.5 | 1976–2020 |
| Tornado | 27 | 8 | $15.0M | F2 | 1959–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2021 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $151K | 0 | 2008–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2004 |
Decade by decade
Okeechobee County, Florida severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
29 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 28 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-09-26 | EF2 | 1 | 7 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-10-09 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-10-09 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 8.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-04-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1983-03-21 | EF2 | 0 | 4 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-11-14 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 3.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-10-09 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-10-09 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 17.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-03-09 | EF1 | 0 | 10 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-04-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Okeechobee County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 1972 | Tornado | TAYLOR CREEK | 6 | 44 | $500K |
| Sep 26, 1982 | Tornado | 1 | 7 | $250K | |
| May 13, 1996 | Tornado | OKEECHOBEE | 1 | 0 | $50K |
| Mar 9, 1998 | Tornado | OKEECHOBEE | 0 | 10 | $5.4M |
| Mar 21, 1983 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| Oct 9, 2024 | Tornado | OKEECHOBEE CO ARPT | 0 | 2 | $3.5M |
| Apr 6, 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | BASINGER | 0 | 2 | $100K |
| Jun 18, 1972 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado cut a path up to 150 yards wide and 4.5 miles long as it moved north from Taylor Creek, affecting Treasure Island Park, a fishing lodge and several other mobile home parks. Six people were killed and 44 were injured (many seriously). Over one hundred mobile homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. Property damage was estimated near $500,000. Note: this event was added in 2018, following a reanalysis by NWS Melbourne.
An F1 tornado touched down along the north shore of Lake Okeechobee near Highway 441. The tornado moved northeast though Okeechobee damaging six businesses and nine homes. Thirteen mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed. About 100 others were damaged. Ten people were injured. Two required hospitalization.
A tornado occurred, which produced localized EF-1 and EF-2 damage. Based on radar analysis and public video provided to the local emergency manager, the tornado touched down southeast of C & M Rucks Dairy.||While the tornado started over open pasture, damage occurred as it moved over C & M Rucks Dairy on NW 144th Ave. Here, a large steel barn with metal siding suffered a partial collapse on the southeast side, with at least 50% of the building destroyed.|Nearby power poles and lines were downed, and a power pole was snapped. The building damage was consistent with EF-2 winds of 105 to 115 mph. The path width was quite narrow, evidenced by nearby buildings which were untouched.||The tornado moved northwest from there, with sheet metal strewn along and west of NW 203rd St. There was no damage reported north of NW 240th St. Based on this and dual-polarimetric radar data, the tornado most likely lifted immediately south of NW 240th St over open pasture.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
40,816
Population (ACS)
$193K
Median home value
35
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | DR |
| Oct 7, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MILTON | EM |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR |
| Aug 3, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM |
| Dec 13, 2022 | Hurricane | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR |
| Nov 8, 2022 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM NICOLE | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Okeechobee County, Florida?
138 events are on record between 1959 and 2025, causing 8 direct deaths and $15.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Okeechobee County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 52 recorded events — 37.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Okeechobee County?
29 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 28 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Okeechobee County?
35 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Okeechobee County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Okeechobee County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Okeechobee County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 80 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Okeechobee 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
- Okaloosa County 579
- Orange County 752
- Nassau County 480
- Osceola County 277
- Monroe County 617
- Palm Beach County 1,094
Cite this page
“Okeechobee County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/okeechobee-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.