Bradford County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Bradford County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Bradford$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This narrative is from the NWS Jacksonville Post Storm Report for Hurricane Irma which is a compiled list of reports from the storm survey, Emergency Management, private and public weather observation networks and broadcast media sources.||The county experienced widespread tree and power line damage due to tropical storm force winds. ||The county EM team reported that about 300 homes where flooded in the cities of Starke, Sampson and Crosby Lake. Two apartment complexes were flooded. Three weeks after the storm, residents of Sampson and Crosby Lake were still taking boats to get to their homes. Initial road damage estimates were up to $4 million dollars. ||Storm total rainfall…

2. Jan 21, 2010Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down around 1322 pm EST in Bradford county. The path width varied from 200 to 400 yards, and the path length was around 9 to possibly 10 miles. Numerous outbuildings were damaged and destroyed. There was mostly minor damage to substantial structures. At least a dozen homes were damaged along County Road 229. There were 25 homes that suffered minor damage and 28 that had major damage. A total of 23 houses were destroyed. The emergency manager estimated $2.5 to $3 million dollars in damages to homes and about $500,000 in damages to out buildings. The tornado traveled just north of due east and lifted in western Clay County were the path may have gone over the…

3. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Bradford$170,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

4. Apr 6, 2017Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A structure fire due to lightning occurred during the pre-dawn hours. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated for the event to be included in Storm Data.

5. Jul 28, 2002Lightning$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   House struck by lightning and destroyed by subsequent fire.

6. May 3, 2013Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor flooding of businesses and residences was reported along Highway 310 from Starke to Lawtey. Several roads were closed due to flood waters. The cost of damage was estimated for event inclusion in Storm Data.

7. Aug 28, 2022Flood$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Bradford county sheriff reported flooding in several areas of Starke. Bradford County EM reported a closure of all directions on US-301 and FL-100 in Starke due to flooded roadways. Broadcast media reported that Bradford middle school canceled classes on Tuesday Aug 30th and Wednesday Aug 31st due to flood damage inside the school caused by heavy rainfall that occurred on Aug 28th. Flood water entered the main building which caused water damage in multiple classrooms.

8. Mar 30, 2000Tornado$30,000
9. Mar 29, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three homes damaged. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

10. Jun 25, 2012Flood$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Widespread flooding occurred across Starke. At 7 am on 6/25, emergency management reported several roads under water in the city including Bessent Road near Valley Road, Colley Road near the Hospital, NE 14th Ave, NE 17th Ave, SR 230 and at SR 16 and Old Lawtey Road. At 7:38 am, Alligator Creek over flowed with several homes threatened by flood waters. U.S. Highway 301 was closed from State Road 16 to Market Road due to flooding. Additional flooding concerns included North Water Street, East Mimosa Drive and Branford Drive in Starked. Flood control gates on Lake Sampson were opened due to high lake levels. There were 7 inches of rainfall during the past 24 hours across the county.…

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

103°FJun 15, 2011

All-time low

10°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FSep 16, 2018

Coldest day

29°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.95 inJun 24, 2012

Hottest year

2019mean 72.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 67.5°F

Wettest year

201771.31 in

Driest year

201133.38 in

Station Gainesville Regional Airport (USW00012816), 133 ft elevation, 19.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 26, 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00012816.
• 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.