Okeechobee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Okeechobee County: 8.
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.

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 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Okeechobee$157 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Category 3 Hurricane Irma made landfall near Naples during the late afternoon of September 10. Irma then moved northward across west-central Florida during the evening while weakening to a Category 2 hurricane approximately 60 miles west of Okeechobee. A long duration of damaging winds occurred across Okeechobee County, with a period of gusts to minimal hurricane force. The highest measured sustained wind was recorded at the Okeechobee Airport ASOS (KOBE; 46 mph from the southeast at 2215LST on September 10) and the highest measured peak gust was 71 mph at 2035LST. A preliminary damage assessment from the county listed 585 affected residential structures, with an additional 239…

2. Sep 26, 2004Strong Wind, Okeechobee$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As the center of Hurricane Jeanne crossed Okeechobee County and moved into west Central Florida, wind gusts to near 80 mph crossed the county. No direct wind or pressure observations were available in the county from Jeanne. Winds gusting to hurricane force damaged and destroyed residences and mobile homes, damaged roofs and out buildings. Damage estimates were near $10 million. In Osceola County gusts to hurricane strength damaged and destroyed residences with an estimated $11 million in damage. Agricultural damage, mainly to citrus, was $8 million. Orange County was also hit hard by the rain bands on the north side of Hurricane Jeanne. Extensive damage to residences, businesses…

3. Oct 24, 2005High Wind, Okeechobee$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The northern eyewall of hurricane Wilma moved over the town of Okeechobee as Wilma moved northeast across the Florida peninsula. Okeechobee Emergency Management reported winds near 80 mph (69 knots) but the instrument failed before the peak winds occurred. Most damage was in the south part of the county and around Lake Okeechobee. Fifty covered boat slips were destroyed and 12 boats were damaged or sunk. About 800 residences were damaged. Of these, 29 were destroyed and 114 received major damage. The Okeechobee City water plant was shut down due to poor water quality in the lake. Two airplanes were overturned. Three hangers were destroyed and 2 sustained major damage at Okeechobee Airport.

4. Mar 9, 1998Tornado$5.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado touched down along the north shore of Lake Okeechobee near Highway 441. The tornado moved northeast though Okeechobee damaging six businesses and nine homes. Thirteen mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed. About 100 others were damaged. Ten people were injured. Two required hospitalization.

5. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado impacted portions of southwest Okeechobee County, where it produced widespread EF-1 and at least some EF-2 damage. Based on radar analysis and public reports, the tornado touched down south of US-98 just northwest of the Okeechobee County Airport. ||The first damage encountered during a NWS Storm Survey was on the path was on US-98 where a manufactured home was lifted from its foundation, stripped from the tie downs, and thrown northward nearly 200 yards while being completely destroyed. Two individuals were injured at this location. A steel/metal barn was damaged on its south side; metal was torn off and the steel structure was bent and twisted. Here, the damage was…

6. Sep 4, 2004High Wind, Okeechobee$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of category 2 Hurricane Frances reached the Florida East near Sewall's point in Martin County early on September 5th but began spreading hurricane force wind gusts across most of Central Florida by 11 pm on September 4th. Frances entered Central Florida moving west northwest at 7 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed the east half of the Florida Peninsula. Frances was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon on the 5th when it was about 50 miles east of Tampa Bay. In Okeechobee County, little direct observational wind data is available, but wind estimates from the Hurricane Research Division show sustained hurricane force winds over most of the…

7. Sep 28, 2022Hurricane (Typhoon), Okeechobee$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ian's slow movement and large wind field led to a long period of tropical storm force winds, with hurricane force gusts in squalls, in Okeechobee County. Emergency management officials reported trees and power lines downed, as well as some damage to roofs, awnings, fences, and pool enclosures due to strong winds, which surface observations indicated peaked between 65 and 75 mph. A county damage assessment indicated 45 structures affected, 113 with minor damage, 35 with major damage, and 2 destroyed due to strong winds. The combined effects of Hurricane Ian led to a total estimated damage of approximately $1.4M. No storm related deaths were reported by the county.

8. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Based on radar analysis and public video provided to the NWS, the tornado touched down immediately south of SR-70. At this location, irrigation equipment was flipped over, indicative of EF-0 winds of 75 - 85 mph.||The tornado continued northeast to NE 120th St., where an outbuilding suffered damage to its metal roof; the roof was not torn off. Nearby hardwood trees were toppled and large branches were broken off, including at the entrance to Sunshine Grove (the site of the Okeechobee Music Festival). The damage in this area was consistent with EF-0 to EF-1 winds of 75 to 95 mph.||From there, the tornado traveled over mainly undeveloped land on approach to 45th Terrace and NE 224th…

9. Dec 21, 2021Strong Wind, Okeechobee$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts in and near the city of Okeechobee downed power and cable lines as well as snapping several small tree branches during the late morning hours on December 21st.

10. Oct 9, 2024Tornado$900,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado occurred, which produced localized EF-1 and EF-2 damage. Based on radar analysis and public video provided to the local emergency manager, the tornado touched down southeast of C & M Rucks Dairy.||While the tornado started over open pasture, damage occurred as it moved over C & M Rucks Dairy on NW 144th Ave. Here, a large steel barn with metal siding suffered a partial collapse on the southeast side, with at least 50% of the building destroyed.|Nearby power poles and lines were downed, and a power pole was snapped. The building damage was consistent with EF-2 winds of 105 to 115 mph. The path width was quite narrow, evidenced by nearby buildings which were…

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

102°FJun 22, 2009

All-time low

21°FJan 22, 1985

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Aug 26, 2020

Coldest day

41°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

11.22 inMay 17, 2016

Hottest year

2015mean 76.2°F

Coldest year

2010mean 71.1°F

Wettest year

192471.26 in

Driest year

196132.70 in

Station Vero Beach International Airport (USW00012843), 19 ft elevation, 36.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1942 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 USW00012843.
• 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.