Hardee County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 13, 2004High Wind, Hardee$177 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The collective effects of Hurricane Charley in southwest and west central Florida during August 13th resulted in 8 direct fatalities, 16 indirect fatalities, 792 injuries, eight tornadoes, an eight foot storm surge in Lee County, an estimated $11.2 billion in property damage (estimated to be about twice that of the insured damage), and $460 million in crop damage. The fast movement of Hurricane Charley limited rain fall totals to 4 to 6 inches along the track of the hurricane's eye wall. River flooding of one to three feet above flood stage was found on area rivers south of Interstate 4. In Hardee County there were 6 injuries, zero fatalities, and damage was estimated at $750…

2. Sep 25, 2004Strong Wind, Hardee$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Jeanne followed the nearly the same path across Florida as Hurricane Frances three weeks earlier and was the unprecedented fourth hurricane to damage Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. The hurricane moved ashore along the east coast of Florida near Stuart late on September 25th with an eye 30 to 40 miles across. Jeanne took a course north of Lake Okeechobee and decreased to a tropical storm in eastern Polk County around 9 AM EDT on the 26th. The center of Jeanne curved north of Tampa Bay during the afternoon and travelled north along the coastal counties before exiting north through Levy County around 10 PM. In Highlands County there were 140 homes destroyed and…

3. Sep 14, 2001Tropical Storm, Hardee$3.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Gabrielle began to affect the Southwest Florida coast during the pre-dawn hours of September 14th with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph along the coasts of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Lee counties. By sunrise, high end tropical storm force wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common from the mouth of Tampa Bay south to Charlotte Harbor. Gabrielle continued to move northeast and made landfall, south of Venice, in Sarasota county, between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. EST. The lowest sea level pressure observed with landfalling Garbrielle was 983.1 millibars at the Venice C-MAN site at 7:00 a.m. EST. At the Venice C-MAN site, a maximum wind gust of 73 mph from the northwest was…

4. Sep 5, 2004High Wind, Hardee$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Frances made landfall just after midnight on September 5th near Vero Beach as a Category 2 storm. The hurricane continued to move slowly west northwestward across central Florida to near Bartow by 2 pm, and just northeast of Tampa by 8 pm, when it was downgraded to a tropical storm. It then emerged back into the Gulf of Mexico near Hudson shortly before midnight. Hurricane Frances took almost 24 hours to move through the Florida peninsula. Frances continued northwestward through the northern gulf of Mexico, making a second landfall on the afternoon of September 6th in the Florida big bend near Tallahassee as a tropical storm. The damage totals listed were caused by trees…

5. Sep 10, 2017Hurricane (Typhoon), Hardee$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Hardee County, the highest wind reported from Hurricane Irma was a gust to 69 knots at the Hardee County Emergency Operations Center in Wauchula. Rainfall was generally around 6 inches or greater, with the highest rain total being 10.58 inches at a mesonet station in Zolfo Springs. The wind resulted in damage to numerous homes, as well as knocking over trees and power lines. Hardee County Emergency Management reported that 10 homes or businesses were destroyed by Irma, 20 sustained major damage, 71 had minor damage, and an additional 59 were affected.||Additional damage occurred due to the high rain totals causing flooding on the Peace River. An EF-1 tornado was also found to…

6. Sep 12, 2017Flood$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains from Hurricane Irma caused the Peace River at Zolfo Springs to rise above flood stage on the 12th, with flooding continuing through the 24th. The water level crested at 23.85 feet on the 13th, 1.85 feet above the major flooding threshold. This marks the third highest crest in history for the Peace River at Zolfo Springs.||The waters were reported to have flooded the Little Charlie Creek RV Park near Wauchula. Flood damage to homes was estimated at $1.64 million.

7. Jun 22, 2003Flood, Hardee$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fresh water flooding inundated areas for three days. Most of the damage was confined to the public infrastructure in the areas of Bowling Green, Wauchula, and Zolfo Springs.

8. Sep 14, 2001Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of five to seven inches, associated with Tropical Storm Gabrielle, caused significant road, home and business flooding across Hardee and DeSoto counties during the pre-dawn through mid-morning hours of September 14th.

9. Sep 28, 2022Hurricane (Typhoon), Hardee$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind reported in Hardee County from Hurricane Ian was an 81 mph wind gust in Wauchula at 11:20 PM EST on September 29. Rainfall generally ranged from 15 to 20 inches, with a maximum total of 20.13 inches near Zolfo Springs. The Peace River in Zolfo Springs reached a record flood level of 27.24 feet at 4:30 PM EST on September 29. 18 structures were destroyed, 114 received major damage, 367 received minor damage, and 337 were affected with another 88 inaccessible. There were 9 fatalities reported by the medical examiner, with 4 directly attributed to Hurricane Ian.

10. Jun 22, 2003Flash Flood$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Twenty one roads were washed out and State Roads 62, 64, 70, and 72 were closed due to the flooding and flash flooding. Rainfall of 11.78 inches was recorded 4 miles northeast of Myakka Head during the past three days.

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

104°FMay 31, 1945

All-time low

20°F3 times, most recently Feb 3, 2026

Warmest night

82°F3 times, most recently Jun 22, 2009

Coldest day

37°FJan 10, 2010

Wettest day

18.54 inSep 28, 2022

Hottest year

1990mean 74.9°F

Coldest year

2010mean 67.7°F

Wettest year

194782.10 in

Driest year

200029.56 in

Station Wauchula (USC00089401), 60 ft elevation, 1.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1933 to October 26, 2026; 97.1% 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 USC00089401.
• 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.