Escambia County

Every recorded tornado

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

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 4 gauges here but lists no crests for them.

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

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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.

Tsunamis

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 13, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Escambia$4.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   See the narrative on Hurricane Ivan under Alabama, Southwest, September 13-16 ,2004. Ivan will be remembered as one of the most damaging hurricanes to affect the extreme western Florida panhandle in modern history. The $4 billion in property damage is an estimate, but the final figure could be as low as $2.5 billion or as high as $7 billion.

2. Jul 9, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Escambia$1.5 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time in less than a week, and the third time in two months, the area was threatened by a tropical event. Major Hurricane Dennis impacted portions of the area during the day and evening of July 10th. The storm made landfall around 130 PM CST as a category three hurricane near Navarre Beach in Santa Rosa county. Dennis then moved north northwest across Santa Rosa and northeast Escambia county in Florida. The weakening storm then moved across the west part of Escambia, the south part of Monroe, the east part of Clarke and the northeast part of Choctaw counties in Alabama. Dennis had a very small eye and winds around the eyewall of the storm caused significant damage as…

3. Apr 29, 2014Flash Flood$150 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Central and southern Escambia county experienced historic flooding the night of April 29th into the early morning of April 30th. Nearly 2 feet of rain fell across portions of southern Escambia County. Pensacola International Airport recorded a storm total of 20.47 inches. 1687 residential homes suffered major flooding with 12 inches of water or more. 1518 residential homes suffered minor flooding with less than 12 inches of water. 13 homes were destroyed. 117 commercial businesses experienced major damage. ||Widespread infrastructure damage, totaling $90 million, occurred with numerous roads, bridges, and drainage systems heavily damaged or destroyed. ||Numerous water rescues took…

4. Aug 27, 2005Tropical Storm, Coastal Escambia$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the narrative on Hurricane Katrina see Alabama, Southwest. Most of the damage from Katrina in northwest Florida was caused by the high storm surge values. Several roads on Santa Rosa Island were again breached. Road construction had just began at many locations from earlier damage from Hurricane Dennis. Highway 98 in Okaloosa county was again damaged. Traffic had to be diverted to two way on one side of the highway. Major beach erosion also occurred from Pensacola Beach to east of Destin.

5. Sep 25, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Escambia$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   See the narrative on Hurricane Georges under Alabama, Southwest, September 25-29, 1998. Preliminary estimates of agricultural damage in Northwest Florida were twenty to twenty-five million in losses to cotton, soybeans, peanuts and chickens due to the storm.

6. Feb 23, 2016Tornado$22.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down southwest of Creighton Road and quickly strengthened as it moved northeast. The first area of EF-2 damage was noted on Lansing Drive where significant roof damage was observed to a couple of homes along with snapped power poles and extensive tree damage. The tornado crossed over Interstate 10 just west of 9th Avenue. EF-1 damage was noted primarily to hardwood trees in the area of Interstate 10 and 9th Avenue. Intensification was noted as it moved further east of 9th Avenue and east of Northpointe Boulevard. The roof was blown off of two homes, one on La Borde Lane and one on Gladstone Drive. Additional EF-2 damage to homes was observed further to…

7. Sep 24, 2002Tropical Storm, Coastal Escambia$5.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time during the month the area was threatened by a tropical storm. Tropical Storm Isidore threatened the area Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We were put under a Tropical Storm Warning at 900 AM CST on September 24. The Tropical Storm Warning was dropped at 300 PM CST on September 26 as the remains of Isidore moved across eastern Mississippi. Isidore moved ashore over the Southeast Louisiana Coast between 200 and 300 AM CST on September 26. Although the center of Isidore did not move over our area, the strongest winds and heaviest rains were east of the center with most of the damage across Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida.Some of the winds recorded across…

8. Feb 15, 2016Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed from an isolated supercell thunderstorm. The tornado first touched down southwest of Lambert-Ridge Road southeast of McDavid. The tornado gradually increased in strength and width as it continued northeast toward Century. The first EF-2 intensity damage noted was on Holland Drive where a workshop was completely destroyed. The tornado reached its peak intensity (widespread EF-2 damage with isolated EF-3 damage) as it moved into Century. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. A couple of homes experienced complete loss of the roof with only the walls of small interior rooms remaining. Extensive tree damage was noted with numerous softwood and hardwood trees…

9. Jun 10, 2005Tropical Storm, Inland Escambia$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   See the narrative on Tropical Storm Arlene under Alabama, Southwest, June 10-11, 2005. Santa Rosa island was breached in several places by the high storm tide. Breaches occurred between Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens and between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach. Fort Pickens alone suffered about $2.5 millions in damage from Arlene.

10. Mar 8, 1998Flash Flood$1.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A slow moving complex weather system moved through southwest Alabama and northwest Florida on March 8, bringing with it copious amounts of rainfall. The Mobile WSR-88D estimated rainfall totals of six to ten inches across the area on March 8. Residents in north Santa Rosa and north Okaloosa counties estimated up to twelve inches of rain fell. The heavy rains began during the early morning hours in Escambia county and moved slowly east across Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties during the mid morning hours. The heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding across the area. The flooding began in Escambia county and then spread east across Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. Most secondary…

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

106°FJul 14, 1980

All-time low

5°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

85°FJul 14, 1980

Coldest day

25°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

15.55 inApr 29, 2014

Snowiest day

8.9 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

2023mean 72.0°F

Coldest year

1983mean 65.3°F

Wettest year

195393.32 in

Driest year

195428.52 in

Snowiest season

8.9 in2024-25

Station Pensacola Regional Airport (USW00013899), 118 ft elevation, 5.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 24, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013899.
• 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.