Major Florida Peninsula hurricanes 1846-2003

[JetMaxx]

Thanks to some new data researched by the Hurricane Research Division HURDAT project, here's a list of all major hurricanes to make landfall on the Florida Peninsula (south of a Jacksonville to Cedar Key line) since 1845.

Please note there was a similar lull in major hurricane landfalls during the latter part of the 19th century as we've observed since 1961 (only 2 major landfalling hurricanes occurred between 1849 and 1888); but the overall climatology shows that on average, the Florida Peninsula is struck by a category 3,4,5 hurricane once every 6 years. The present lull that's lasted since 1961 (only Betsy and Andrew since) is likely coming to an end very soon -- and when it does, there are now over 11 million people living in harms way...over 95% of whom haven't experienced the core of a major hurricane during their lifetime. :o


MAJOR FLORIDA PENINSULA HURRICANES SINCE 1845

Oct 1846 / cat-4. Key West; Tampa Bay to Cedar Key (917 mb @ Key West; poss cat-5)
Sep 1848 / cat 3. Tampa Bay (est. 945 mb)
Aug 1871 / cat-3. Palm Beach to Ft Pierce (955 mb)
Oct 1873 / cat-3. Ft Myers/Naples (959 mb)
Aug 1888 / cat 3. Miami (945 mb; poss cat-4)
Sep 1896 / cat-3. Cedar Key (955 mb)
Oct 1906 / cat-3. Keys/ Miami (953 mb)
Oct 1909 / cat-3. Keys (957 mb)
Oct 1910 / cat-3. Key West & Naples (955 mb)
Sep 1919 / cat-4. Lower Keys (927 mb; poss cat-5)
Oct 1921 / cat-3. Tampa Bay (952 mb)
Sep 1926 / cat-4. Miami/ Ft Lauderdale & Fort Myers (935 mb)
Sep 1928 / cat-4. Palm Beach to Ft Pierce (929 mb)
Sep 1929 / cat-3. Upper Keys/ South Dade (948 mb)
Sep 1933 / cat-3. Palm Beach & Broward counties (948 mb)
Sep 1935 / cat-5. Middle Keys & Naples/ Sanibel I./ Longboat Key (892 mb)
Oct 1944 / cat-3. Sarasota to Naples (962 mb)
Sep 1945 / cat-3. Miami-Dade (951 mb)
Sep 1947 / cat-4. Miami to Palm Beach (940 mb)
Sep 1948 / cat-3. Key West & Everglades City (963 mb)
Aug 1949 / cat-3. Palm Beach to Stuart (954 mb)
Sep 1950 / cat-3. Cedar Key to Tarpon Springs "Easy" (958 mb)
Oct 1950 / cat-3. Miami/ Fort Lauderdale "King" (955 mb)
Sep 1960 / cat-4. Keys/ Naples to Port Charlotte "Donna" (930 mb)
Sep 1965 / cat-3. Keys & South Dade "Betsy" (952 mb)
Aug 1992 / cat-5. South Dade "Andrew" (922 mb)

26 major landfalling hurricanes occurred between 1845 and 2002....or a ratio of once every six years. It's now been 11 since hurricane Andrew...and 38 since Betsy. We can all do the math :o :o :o

Also note when these major landfalling hurricanes occurred...most young Floridians I know seem to think August is "hurricane time" in south Florida because of hurricane Andrew -- but the statistics show both September (14 major hits) and October (8) are far more likely to see a major hurricane hit the Florida Peninsula than August (4). Andrew was only the second major hurricane to strike south Florida in over a century.

[Toni - 574]

What an eye opener even for me! I know we are long over due. The question is not if we get hit again but when. Thanks for that info.

[ameriwx2003]

Perry. Great info!!. Yep, Florida has been very lucky.Alot of people will be in for a rude awakening one of these days here in Florida

[rainydaze]

Well, I live in West Palm Beach and according to your list we haven't had a major cane here in about 54 YEARS! Yikes!! I hope this is not the year for us because I live in a wood frame house and we are planning on selling and moving (to a CBS house for sure!) this fall. It's hard to sell a pile of wood sticks for a profit...LOL

[JetMaxx]

Marie, that last major hurricane to strike Palm Beach county (8/26-27/49) was a mean one. Wind gusts were clocked at 140 mph at PBI before the anemometer was destroyed, and an anemometer in Stuart measured a peak gust of 160 mph (sustained winds were 125 mph).