Fernandina Beach

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Nassau County, the county that contains Fernandina Beach.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Nassau County, the county that contains Fernandina Beach.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in Nassau County.

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Nassau County, the county that contains Fernandina Beach.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Nassau County.

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 6, 2016Tropical Storm, Coastal Nassau$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Through the event, widespread tree, powerline and some structural damage was reported due to tropical storm force winds. Most of the wind damage was across coastal locations including Fernandina Beach. There were reports of trees down on structures as well. ||The peak winds measured across the county included sustained 44 mph on 10/7 at 955 pm and a gust to 60 mph on 10/7 at 10:35 pm at the Fernandina Beach Airport. The Fernandina Beach NOS station measured a peak sustained wind of 39 mph on 10/7 at 11:18 pm and a max gust of 59 mph on 10/7 at 6 pm. ||At 1530 edt on 10/7, the Fernandina Beach tide gauge reported a peak water level of 6.91 ft above NAVD88 datum. This was 4.32 ft…

2. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Nassau$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd - More than 50 homes damaged... 20 with structural, 30 with minor. One business with roof damage. Extensive beach erosion. Storm surge deposited 3-4 feet of sand on CR-105 in Fernandina Beach.

3. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Nassau$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino, More than 2800 homes and more than 175 businesses destroyed.

4. Oct 6, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong Nor'easter and Tropical Storm Josephine produced as much as 7 inches of rainfall in 72 hours. Numerous road were closed county-wide. Thomas Creek Road had more than 300 feet of payment washed away. The heavy rains prompted school officials to close all of the Counties schools on Wednesday, 10/9/96.

5. May 17, 2002Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning ignited fire destroying auto body shop on US 17.

6. Mar 10, 1996Winter Storm, Nassau$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong Nor'easter with winds of 50 to 60 mph caused damage at Amelia Island - (Beach Erosion) Lost six to 12 feet of beach at Amelia Island Plantation resort and on the Island's South end.

7. Nov 15, 1996Coastal Flood, Nassau$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong nor'easter proved mightier than man-made anti-erosion devices along Amelia Island. Easterly winds of 30 to 40 mph and crashing waves caused severe beach erosion mainly along a quarter mile on the southern most developments.

8. May 17, 2002Lightning$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning strike ignited fire destroying family home.

9. Jun 12, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several city blocks affected near Robin Hood Circle and Ratliff Rd. with a dozen large trees felled and bricks moved. Privacy fence blown down. Most trees were snapped off 8 to 14 inches above the ground, including a 10 inch round, healthy White Oak. Four structures damaged, two were under construction. Survey estimation, 200 yard wide by 400 yard long micoburst with wind speeds of 55 to 65 knots. Broader wind swath of 40 knot winds. Additional information from Fernandina Beach News Leader 6/18/03

10. Mar 2, 2007Tornado$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Three single wide mobile homes with significant damage to siding, minor roof damage and damage to steps, fences, etc. Used EF Scale - Damage Indicator (DI) MHSW with a Degree of Damage (DOD) #2 to the structures. Several Small farm buildings and sheds were moved or blown over with large tractors and equipment inside. For these I used a DI of SBO and DOD #7. By crossing the two determined an EF-0 Scale rating with 80 mph wind speeds most likely.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

105°FJul 21, 1942

All-time low

7°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1980

Coldest day

30°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

10.13 inSep 25, 1949

Snowiest day

1.5 inFeb 13, 1958

Hottest year

1949mean 71.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 66.2°F

Wettest year

199179.63 in

Driest year

199031.20 in

Snowiest season

1.5 in1957-58

Station Jacksonville (USW00013889), 160 ft elevation, 19.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Nassau County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013889.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.