Palm Bay

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 Brevard County, the county that contains Palm Bay.

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 Brevard County, the county that contains Palm Bay.

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 Brevard 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 Brevard County, the county that contains Palm Bay.

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.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Brevard 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. Sep 25, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Brevard$320 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of category 3 Hurricane Jeanne reached the Florida east coast near Sewall's Point in Martin County shortly after midnight on September 26th. Remarkably, this is in the same location where Hurricane Frances came ashore on September 5th. Jeanne was moving to the west northwest at 12 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed most of the Florida Peninsula. Jeanne was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon of September 26th when it was about 40 miles northeast of Tampa Bay. In Volusia County, hurricane force wind gusts began with the rain bands on the north side of Jeanne as they moved on shore. The county, already battered by Hurricane Frances suffered…

2. Jul 1, 1998Wildfire$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The excessive heat and lack of rain that existed over east central Florida for much of June and July resulted in wild fires beginning in June and spreading over huge areas of Volusia and Brevard counties in late June and early July. Wild fires were also reported in Orange and Seminole counties. Hundreds of firefighters were called in from all over the Nation to help battle the fires. No major population centres were threatened but a huge battle was waged to keep the fires out of the towns of Mims and Scottsmoor. Residents of the area suffered may days of breathing heavy smoke that significantly reduced visibility. At one point Interstate 95 was closed through northern Brevard and…

3. Sep 4, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Brevard$90.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of category 2 Hurricane Frances reached the Florida east coast near Sewall's Point in Martin County early on September 5th. Frances was moving to the west northwest at 7 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed the east half of the Florida Peninsula. Frances was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon on the 5th when it was about 50 miles east of Tampa Bay. In Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, the slow moving storm produced wind gusts to hurricane strength for about 19 hours, producing an estimated 4.5 billion dollars in damage. Wind gusts well over 100 mph destroyed coastal structures, marinas, and vessels. Farther inland, hundreds of…

4. Oct 6, 2016Hurricane (Typhoon), Brevard$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of major Hurricane Matthew passed only 25 miles offshore Brevard County during the morning hours of October 7, producing a long duration of sustained tropical storm winds through much of the county and a shorter period of frequent gusts to hurricane force closer to the coast. A NWS damage survey confirmed that sustained category 1-2 hurricane winds likely occurred along the coastline from Cape Canaveral northward. The highest sustained wind recorded at the Melbourne International Airport was 53 mph from the north at 0146LST on October 7 and the peak gust was 70 mph from the northwest at 0257LST. A USAF wind sensor at 54 feet above ground level near the beach north of…

5. Aug 20, 2008Flash Flood$70.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rain from Tropical Storm Fay dropped as much as 15 inche of rain on the central and south parts of Brevard County. As many as 1600 homes were flooded. Damage was in excess of $70 million.

6. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Brevard$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Category 3 Hurricane Irma made landfall near Naples during the late afternoon of September 10. Irma then moved northward across west-central Florida during the evening and overnight while weakening to a Category 2 hurricane approximately 95 miles west of Melbourne. A long duration of damaging winds occurred across Brevard County, with a period of frequent gusts to hurricane force (especially near the coast). The highest sustained wind was measured at WeatherFlow site in Melbourne Shores (64 mph from the southeast at 2225LST on September 10) and the peak gust was 94 mph from the southeast at 2040LST at a WeatherFlow site located along the Banana River at State Road 528. A…

7. Oct 6, 2016Storm Surge/Tide, Brevard$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As Hurricane Matthew passed offshore, high water levels, wave run-up, and large breaking waves led to moderate to major beach erosion, extensive escarpment of dunes, and damage to numerous pedestrian crossovers along the coastline. The storm surge was estimated at between 3 and 4 feet above ground level along the immediate shoreline based on a NWS survey. The foundations of several beachfront properties between Satellite Beach and Melbourne Beach were compromised due to extensive damage to dunes and berms. Water level rises along the Indian River Lagoon and Banana River were estimated between 1 and 2 feet due to wind-driven water and wave piling. Preliminary damage estimates…

8. Oct 27, 2012Coastal Flood, Brevard$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate to major beach erosion, with approximately 17 structures in danger or threatened by additional short-term erosion. Of these 17 structures, two were multi-family buildings and two were businesses. Seven of the sites experienced structural damage to the primary structure or to attached patios or pools. Several beach crossovers and lifeguard towers were also damaged, as well as a boat ramp.

9. May 11, 2008Wildfire, Brevard$16.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong westerly winds gusting to near 40 mph and high temperatures on May 11th began a four day fire event in Brevard County. The greatest damage occurred around and near the communities of Palm Bay and Malabar. Fire damage also occurred near the town of Cocoa. In all 162 homes were damaged or destroyed and over 10,000 acres burned. There were three minor injuries to fire fighters. Interstate 95 in Brevard County was shut down by smoke on numerous occasions. Damage was over 16 million dollars.

10. Oct 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Brevard$12.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Minimal Hurricane Irene moved northeast from the Florida Keys across south Florida and emerged over the Atlantic near Ft. Pierce. Even though the storm was classified a category one hurricane, no sustained hurricane force winds were observed in east central Florida. Winds gusted from 60 to 70 mph over coastal locations from Ft. Pierce to Daytona Beach. In Martin and St. Lucie counties the greatest impact from the storm was flooding. From 5 to 9 inches of rain fell over the area flooding 300 homes. About 50 homes had major wind damage and thousands of trees were blown down. In Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties hundreds of homes received minor wind damage and about 50…

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

102°FJul 14, 1980

All-time low

19°FJan 20, 1977

Warmest night

82°F3 times, most recently Aug 25, 2020

Coldest day

36°FJan 10, 2010

Wettest day

11.85 inAug 20, 2008

Hottest year

2020mean 74.8°F

Coldest year

1970mean 70.5°F

Wettest year

200876.10 in

Driest year

198131.97 in

Station Melbourne Wfo (USC00085612), 35 ft elevation, 11.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 27, 2026; 99.0% 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 Brevard 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 USC00085612.
• 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.