Monroe County, Florida

What hazards hit Monroe County most?

The most frequent records are fog, smoke and funnel cloud records: 367 since 1996. 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 Monroe County had?

NOAA records 78 tornadoes in Monroe County from 1953 to 2024, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 71 injuries recorded in the county. That is 24th of 67 Florida counties and 220th of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 83 tornadoes whose track touched Monroe County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 78: 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 Monroe County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 19, 2024 tornado ($1,882 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A brief tornado was determined to have passed from State Road 4A through Diane Avenue and Linda Street on the northern portion of Little Torch Key. The narrow path was marked by two downed buttonwood trees, broken small and medium-sized tree branches, a destroyed plastic storage shed, and three destroyed breakaway shade canopies. No structural damage was observed. Estimated maximum winds were 65 to 70 mph.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1170801)

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

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 Monroe 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?

Records by month in Monroe County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Monroe County

FEMA's register lists 47 declarations that include Monroe County: 27 major disasters, 18 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (26) and severe storm (6).

The 40 most recent of 47 are listed; the CSV has every one.

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 Monroe County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 43 flood or flash flood records for Monroe County from 1997 to 2026, on 32 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Monroe County ranks 14th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $714 million on 27,430 claims filed in Monroe County; the most in one year was 9,186 in 2005. 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 Monroe County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Monroe County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $93.3 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 Monroe County

1. Miami-Dade County 1,634
2. Monroe County 799
3. Collier County 651

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
• The Florida recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Monroe CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Monroe County's FEMA declarations (CSV)47 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis