Gilchrist County, Florida

What hazards hit Gilchrist County most?

The most frequent records are extreme cold records: 105 since 1996. 73% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in December and January. The rank column places the county among Florida's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Gilchrist County had?

NOAA records 5 tornadoes in Gilchrist County from 1970 to 2021, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 4 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 6 tornadoes whose track touched Gilchrist County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 5: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Florida.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Gilchrist County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the December 14, 2010 frost/freeze ($4.5 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Levy County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 11 hours across much of the county. The Usher Tower cooperative station near Chiefland and the FAWN station in Bronson both experienced the coldest temperature across the county of 21 degrees. This was a new record low for Usher Tower. The county has 44,870 acres of harvested farmland, which translates into approximately $3.29 million in damages to crops.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 274975)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Gilchrist County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

73% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Gilchrist County

FEMA's register lists 37 declarations that include Gilchrist County: 19 major disasters, 16 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (18) and tropical storm (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Gilchrist County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 7 flood or flash flood records for Gilchrist County from 1998 to 2024, on 7 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Gilchrist County ranks 907th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.2 million on 212 claims filed in Gilchrist County; the most in one year was 62 in 1998. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Gilchrist County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Gilchrist County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.8 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Gilchrist County

1. Alachua County 920
2. Columbia County 468
3. Suwannee County 463
4. Gilchrist County 376
5. Levy County 284
6. Dixie County 248
7. Lafayette County 199

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in FloridaEvery Florida tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Extreme cold in FloridaThe state's extreme cold records, by county, year and month
• The Florida recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Gilchrist CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Gilchrist County's FEMA declarations (CSV)37 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis