Florida extreme cold

Are extreme cold records common in Florida?

Florida averages about 53 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 18th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2010 (129). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Florida records 209 extreme cold records since 1996, 26th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Maryland 1039
2. 2. New Jersey 901
3. 3. West Virginia 808
4. 4. Vermont 703
5. 5. New York 602
6. 6. Kentucky 578
7. 7. Delaware 565
8. 8. Minnesota 532
9. 9. Iowa 492
10. 10. Illinois 483
11. 26. Florida 209

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Florida have the most extreme cold records?

Per square mile, Gilchrist County leads Florida: 96 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 274.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Citrus County has the most cold records (105 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Gilchrist County 274.5 (105)
2. Hernando County 181.8 (93)
3. Citrus County 156.4 (105)
4. Sumter County 140.0 (85)
5. Pasco County 72.3 (59)
6. Hardee County 67.4 (43)
7. DeSoto County 58.1 (38)
8. Sarasota County 52.2 (29)
9. Manatee County 49.8 (38)
10. Hillsborough County 46.9 (52)
11. Glades County 39.7 (32)
12. Highlands County 36.4 (38)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is the cold season in Florida?

73% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in December and January. The busiest month is January (565 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest extreme cold records in Florida?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest extreme cold records in Florida

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are extreme cold records becoming more frequent in Florida?

Florida's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent extreme cold records in Florida

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for extreme cold records in Florida

FEMA has declared 7 disasters in Florida for extreme cold, counting its incident type and declarations that name freez in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 7 were major disasters, the latest on February 5, 2001.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Gilchrist County: the county's whole recordThe Florida county with the most extreme cold records per square mile
• Extreme cold across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in FloridaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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