Lafayette County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lafayette 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. Sep 26, 2024Hurricane (Typhoon), Lafayette$1.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous trees and power lines blown down. Nearly 100% of the county lost power. Major agriculture losses occurred in the county.

2. Aug 30, 2023Hurricane (Typhoon), Lafayette$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread damage to trees and power lines occurred with 99% of the county losing power.

3. Aug 5, 2024Hurricane (Typhoon), Lafayette$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the county.

4. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Lafayette$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Irma brought numerous impacts to the Florida Big Bend, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama including widespread downed trees and power lines, roads blocked by trees, power outages, and trees on homes. Two people died during the event - one due to a car crash (Liberty County, FL) and another that had a heart attack (Worth County, GA). Two indirect deaths also occurred due to carbon monoxide from a generator (Taylor County, FL). While many counties across the Florida Big Bend and southwest Georgia were impacted, the greatest impacts were across the eastern portion of the area near the I-75 corridor. There were over 6.5 million customers without power in Florida, over…

5. Apr 30, 2014Flood$856,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Areal flooding occurred across Lafayette county at the end of the month due to a combination of heavy rainfall and already saturated conditions. Many roads in the county sustained damage with damage estimated at $855,857.

6. Mar 1, 2000Wildfire$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The "Highway 51" wildfire consumed 4,121 acres. Twelve homes were threatened, but no evacuations ordered. Two out buildings were destroyed. A local state of emergency was declared. More than 50 Division of Forestry and local fire department personnel were involved in the containment. Smoke reduced visibilities along U.S. Highway 27 and State Highway 51. Reported by the FL DEM.

7. Jul 9, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Lafayette$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dennis, a Category 3 hurricane, moved inland just east of Gulf Breeze, FL, early Sunday afternoon, July 10. The peak wind gust and lowest sea-level pressure recorded were 67 knots and 979 mb, respectively, at Buoy 42039 located 80 miles south of Panama City, FL. Rainfall totals ranged from 3 to 4 inches in the eastern Florida Panhandle to 6 to 10 inches in the Florida Big Bend. Flooding was reported in southern Leon County where several areas were under 3 to 4 feet of water. Maximum coastal storm surge heights ranged from 4 to 8 feet in Walton, Bay, Gulf, Taylor and Dixie counties to 8 to 12 feet in Franklin, Wakulla and Jefferson counties. Moderate to severe beach erosion was…

8. Mar 10, 1998Flood, Lafayette$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Walton, and Jackson counties were declared federal disaster areas. Nearly 6 inches of rain from March 8-9 caused urban/small stream flooding in Bayou George and much of the north and northwest Bay County. In Calhoun County, 28 county roads and State Road 69 were closed to flooding. Approximately 400 homes and businesses sustained flood damage (57 in Blountstown). The Chipola River at Altha crested near 31.2 feet on March 14. The Apalachicola River at Blountstown crested near 27.2 feet (third highest) on March 13. In Dixie County, rising waters along the Suwannee River forced the evacuation of 200 residents. Numerous county and…

9. Apr 23, 2005Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down and destroyed four chicken houses, overturned a trailer and twisted roofing tin around trees of the Pickett Lake community. It also uprooted trees, downed power lines and scattered debris. Reported by the Lafayette County EMA.

10. Sep 5, 2004Tropical Storm, Lafayette$125,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hurricane Frances came ashore on the east coast of Florida near Sewall's Point during the early morning hours of September 5. Frances weakened as it crossed the central peninsula, and reemerged over the northeast Gulf of Mexico 24 hours later as a tropical storm. Frances made its second landfall near St. Marks, FL, around mid-afternoon on September 6. A maximum sustained wind of 53 knots was recorded at the USAF C-Tower, 20 miles southeast of Apalachicola, FL. A peak wind gust of 63 knots was recorded at Buoy 42036, 80 miles southeast of Apalachicola. The lowest sea-level pressure was 984.4 mb at Tallahassee, FL. Rainfall from Frances ranged from a half inch at Panama City, FL, to…

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 19, 1998

All-time low

7°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Aug 9, 2024

Coldest day

25°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

14.62 inSep 12, 1964

Snowiest day

2.0 inFeb 13, 1958

Hottest year

1990mean 70.3°F

Coldest year

2010mean 65.9°F

Wettest year

196493.91 in

Driest year

195534.26 in

Snowiest season

2.0 in1957-58

Station Mayo (USC00085539), 83 ft elevation, 0.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 2026; 95.1% 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 USC00085539.
• 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.