75
Recorded events
17
Direct deaths
110
Direct injuries
$6.2M
Property damage
Tornado in Santa Rosa County, Florida: 75 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #135 nationally and #18 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Santa Rosa County, Florida: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Santa Rosa County is the 2000s, when 16 of the county's 75 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Santa Rosa County archive, tornado makes up 11.3% of all recorded severe weather across 11 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #135 for this hazard and #18 within Florida, putting it in the 95.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Mar is the peak month for tornado in Santa Rosa County with 16 recorded events, while Jun is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962-03-31 | EF3 | 6.9 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 1971-02-07 | EF3 | 1.0 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1973-05-26 | EF2 | 105.4 mi | 20 yd | Crossed in |
| 2024-05-10 | EF2 | 24.0 mi | 1,000 yd | Touched down here |
| 2023-06-15 | EF2 | 8.6 mi | 450 yd | Crossed in |
| 1996-11-30 | EF2 | 0.4 mi | 90 yd | Touched down here |
| 1983-12-13 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1972-03-02 | EF2 | 2.0 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1972-01-12 | EF2 | 0.5 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1969-12-21 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 1962 | F3 | 17 | 100 | $2.5M | |
| Nov 30, 1996 | BROXSON | F2 | 0 | 7 | $75K |
| Mar 31, 2022 | MULAT | EF1 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Mar 28, 1972 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2025 | WOODLAWN BEACH | EF0 | $0 |
| May 10, 2024 | INDIAN FORD | EFU | $0 |
| May 10, 2024 | ALLENTOWN | EFU | $0 |
| May 10, 2024 | NEW YORK | EFU | $0 |
| May 10, 2024 | JAY ARPT | EF2 | $0 |
| Apr 10, 2024 | FLORIDATOWN | EF1 | $0 |
| Jan 9, 2024 | BADDAD JCT | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | MULAT | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | WALLACE | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 20, 2020 | FLORIDATOWN | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Santa Rosa County
- Thunderstorm Wind 294
- Lightning 106
- Hail 80
- Flash Flood 68
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A weak F1 tornado (winds from 73 to 85 mph) moved through the Country Breeze Estates subdivision along County Rd. 399. The tornado, occurring around 130 AM CST, was about 50 to 75 yards wide with a damage path of approximately one half statute mile. 55 homes sustained some degree of structural damage, mainly with roofs. Of these, 20 suffered major damage.
An F1 tornado occurred near Byron Street just to the northwest of Milton High School. Most of the damage produced by the tornado was to trees and to the roofs of homes, with one of the homes having it's roof completely torn off. The most significant damage which resulted from the tornado occurred at a storage facility near Stewart Street. Several units of the long storage buildings were damaged, and three rental trucks were also damaged. Shortly after passing north of the storage facility, the tornado lifted back into the cloud.
An F1 tornado touched down near the intersection of County Road 178 and State Highway 87. Several manufactured homes were damaged where the tornado first touched down. The tornado tracked northeast and crossed Highway 87 and caused only minor damage east of the highway. Near Highway 87 a home had most of the roof torn off. The roof of the home had reportedly been damaged, twice, by high winds associated with hurricanes Ivan and Dennis over the past year and a half. Both times the roof was repaired. No injuries were reported.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Santa Rosa County, Florida?
75 tornado events are recorded in Santa Rosa County between 1954 and 2025, causing 17 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Santa Rosa County?
The strongest tornado on record in Santa Rosa County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Santa Rosa County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Santa Rosa County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/santa-rosa-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.