Sebastian

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 Indian River County, the county that contains Sebastian.

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 Indian River County, the county that contains Sebastian.

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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.

The drought index is for Indian River County, the county that contains Sebastian.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 4, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Indian River$1.0 billion
   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…

2. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$39.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado is a continuation of the unusually strong tornado that impacted St. Lucie County. The tornado moved out of the Spanish Lakes Subdivision in St. Lucie County where it then entered the Vero Beach Highlands neighborhood in Indian River County, where multiple properties suffered roof and outbuilding damage, and healthy hardwood trees either were toppled or snapped. This damage paralleled a few blocks within 6th Ave SW. Farther north along US-1 in the Oslo area, a Publix suffered broken windows. Roof AC units were dislodged and fell to the ground, and a car was flipped over. This damage is consistent with EF-1 winds of 90 - 110 mph. ||After crossing the Indian River,…

3. Oct 6, 2016Hurricane (Typhoon), Indian River$15.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major Hurricane Matthew passed nearly 35 miles offshore Indian River County during the early morning hours of October 7, producing a long duration of sustained tropical storm winds and a short period of frequent gusts to hurricane force along the coast from around Vero Beach northward. The highest sustained wind recorded at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport was 55 mph from the northwest at 0150LST on October 7 and the peak gust was 74 mph from the west at 0251LST. Wind damage occurred to more than two dozen homes, mainly a result of trees falling onto roofs. Three homes were destroyed, 15 sustained major damage, seven experienced minor damage and an additional seven homes were…

4. Oct 6, 2016Storm Surge/Tide, Indian River$13.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As Hurricane Matthew passed offshore, the beaches experienced moderate to major erosion and wave run-up to dunes and berms due to an estimated 3-4 foot storm surge. Crosswalks within county-owned beach parks experienced significant damage, with an estimated economic loss of $13 million to the beaches.

5. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado, the second of two to impact downtown Vero Beach, started on the west side of the tracks in Vero Beach South where a few instances of vegetative damage were noted. The circulation strengthened as it continued north along the tracks where more significant damage was noted to trees and structures between 20th St (SR 60) and the Vero Beach airport, coincident with wind gusts up to 100 mph. ||Several businesses suffered extensive roof loss and numerous trees were uprooted. Additionally, a large metal warehouse shifted off its foundation as its walls and roof collapsed near the train tracks at 19th Pl. The tornado continued north toward the Vero Beach Airport where…

6. Oct 27, 2012Coastal Flood, Indian River$10.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate to major beach erosion. Several beach crossovers and a lifeguard tower were damaged. Sea water and sand washed onto one coastal road.

7. Oct 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Indian River$10.0 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…

8. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado, the first of two to impact downtown Vero Beach, likely touched down in Vero Beach South along US-1 near 12th St. where generally vegetative damage was noted in the form of downed trees. Damage to residences and businesses was noted further to the north, particularly to roofs, as the tornado likely strengthened and produce wind speeds of up to 85 mph. ||The circulation intersected the Vero Beach Police Department at approximately 1453EST per surveillance video where several trees and utility poles were downed. A mesonet weather station at the facility recorded a peak wind gust of 92 mph at 1455EST. Several trees were downed in neighborhoods to the north of 20th St and…

9. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Indian River$1.5 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 while weakening to a Category 2 hurricane approximately 95 miles west of Vero Beach. A long duration of damaging winds occurred across Indian River County, with a period of gusts to hurricane force. A preliminary report indicated 72 structures with minor damage and 6 with major damage. The total estimated damage cost was $1.5 million. Damage generally involved roof shingles/tiles, soffits, awnings, and pool enclosures. A few houses, condos and businesses lost portions of their roofs, primarily along the coast, with…

10. Jun 1, 1997Lightning$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning caused a fire that completely destroyed a large house in Vero Beach. Damage was estimated at 1 million dollars.

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°FJun 22, 2009

All-time low

21°FJan 22, 1985

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Aug 26, 2020

Coldest day

41°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

11.22 inMay 17, 2016

Hottest year

2015mean 76.2°F

Coldest year

2010mean 71.1°F

Wettest year

192471.26 in

Driest year

196132.70 in

Station Vero Beach International Airport (USW00012843), 19 ft elevation, 9.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1942 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 Indian River 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 USW00012843.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, 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.
• 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.