Lee County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 28, 2022Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Lee$7.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind reported in Lee County from Hurricane Ian was a gust to 140 mph at a weatherSTEM station at the Cape Coral yacht club at 4:20 PM EST on September 28. Catastrophic damage was caused by the storm surge that most severely affected coastal areas. Surveys indicate a maximum storm surge near 15 feet near the northwest part of Fort Myers Beach, with widespread 10 to 12 feet of inundation across parts of Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach, with all of Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach experiencing 6 to 8 feet of inundation. The peak recorded water level of 7.26 feet above MHHW at Fort Myers along the Caloosahatchee River at 5:30 PM EST on September 28 surpassed…

2. Aug 13, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Lee$2.0 billion
   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. Hurricane Charley, a powerful but compact Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane…

3. Sep 10, 2017Flood$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains from Hurricane Irma on the 10th and 11th cause water levels to rise on the Imperial River in southern Lee county to rise, resulting in flooding of hundreds of homes in Imperial Bonita Estates and the surrounding areas. ||Flood damage from Irma in Lee County was roughly estimated at $500 million.

4. Sep 10, 2017Hurricane (Typhoon), Inland Lee$163 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In inland portions of Lee county, the highest wind reported from Hurricane Irma was a gust to 77 knots at the ASOS at Southwest Florida International Airport during the late afternoon on the 10th. Rainfall was generally around 5 inches or greater, with the highest rain total being 11.59 inches at a mesonet site at the waste plant on Buckingham Road in Fort Myers. The wind resulted in damage to numerous homes, as well as knocking over trees and power lines, while heavy rain also causing flood damage to many homes. Lee County Emergency Management reported that 92 homes or businesses were destroyed by Irma, 2088 sustained major damage, 1721 had minor damage, and an additional 20426…

5. Sep 10, 2017Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Lee$163 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In coastal portions of Lee county, the highest wind reported from Hurricane Irma was a gust to 73 knots at the ASOS at Fort Myers Page Field during the late afternoon on the 10th. Rainfall was generally around 4 inches or greater, with the highest rain total being 10.60 inches at the ASOS at Fort Myers Page Field. The wind resulted in damage to numerous homes, as well as knocking over trees and power lines, while heavy rain also caused flood damage to numerous homes. Lee County Emergency Management reported that 92 homes or businesses were destroyed by Irma, 2088 sustained major damage, 1721 had minor damage, and an additional 20,426 were affected throughout Lee County. ||The…

6. Oct 24, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Lee$101 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Wilma made landfall near Cape Romano in Collier County around daybreak on October 24th as a Category 3 hurricane with a 60 mile wide eye wall. Wilma then raced across far southern Florida in five hours and exited into the Atlantic just north of Palm Beach as a Category 2 hurricane. Wilma produced widespread heavy rains of 4 to 8 inches across the area but unseasonably dry conditions prior to Wilma limited flooding. Storm surge was not a problem in the Fort Myers area as winds were offshore. In Lee County...The north part of Hurricane Wilma's eye wall passed along the Lee/Collier county border. Southern Lee County received widespread minor to isolated moderate damage. A…

7. Apr 3, 2020Wildfire, Inland Lee$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small wildfire started near the Southwest Florida International Airport, and spread to a grassy rental car overflow lot. The fire destroyed 3516 vehicles before being extinguished, out of the more than 7300 vehicles present. Around 300 firefighters responded to the incident. No injuries were reported.

8. Oct 9, 2024Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Lee$77.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Surface observations indicate peak wind gusts generally between 70 to 80 mph, with a maximum gust of 78 mph at Sanibel Island at 10:17 PM EST. Rainfall ranged from 2 to 4 inches, with a maximum total of 4.52 inches near Fort Myers. A peak water level of 5.27 feet above MHHW was measured at Fort Myers at 11:06 PM EST on October 9, the second-highest water level of record at the site behind only the 7.26 ft MHHW measured during Hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022. Peak water levels estimated elsewhere along coastal Lee County generally ranged from 3 to 6 feet above MHHW. Three tornadoes were confirmed in Lee County in association with Milton: an EF-2 in Fort Myers, and an EF-1 in…

9. Oct 9, 2024Tropical Storm, Inland Lee$77.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Surface observations indicate peak wind gusts generally between 70 to 80 mph, with a maximum gust of 78 mph at Sanibel Island at 10:17 PM EST. Rainfall ranged from 2 to 4 inches, with a maximum total of 4.52 inches near Fort Myers. Three tornadoes were confirmed in Lee County in association with Milton: an EF-2 in Fort Myers, and an EF-1 in Matlacha, and an EF-0 near Jonathan Harbour.

10. Jan 16, 2022Tornado$10.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Iona/Fort Myers tornado. A waterspout first identified just northwest of Fort Myers Beach moved ashore as a tornado and pushed through the Iona area near Fort Myers producing EF-2 damage with peak winds estimated around 118 mph before dissipating near the Cape Coral bridge. Over 200 residences suffered damage across three separate mobile home communities (Point Breeze, Tropicana, and Century 21), with 45 destroyed, 90 sustaining major damage and another 92 with minor damage. 3 people suffered minor injuries. Damage estimates totaled around $10 million USD.

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 17, 1981

All-time low

24°FDec 29, 1894

Warmest night

83°F4 times, most recently Aug 8, 2024

Coldest day

42°FDec 29, 1894

Wettest day

9.92 inOct 21, 1924

Hottest year

2023mean 78.0°F

Coldest year

1910mean 71.2°F

Wettest year

202480.45 in

Driest year

196432.83 in

Station Fort Myers Page Field Airport (USW00012835), 13 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to October 26, 2026; 99.4% 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 USW00012835.
• 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.
• 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.