Hurricanes that hit Washington County, Florida: hurricane history

58 storms have passed within 50 km of Washington County from 1851 to 2021, coloured by intensity on the map.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Washington County

The record holds 58 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Washington County, Florida between 1851 and 2021. The busiest month is September, with 19 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 5 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 58storms within 50 km
  • 6major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 22at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Washington County?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression814%
Tropical storm2340%
Category 11221%
Category 247%
Category 359%
Category 412%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity59%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

Washington County storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 6 in 1860s.1850s1870s1890s1910s1930s1950s1970s1990s2010s

The 2020s only run to 2021, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1851, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1850s2
1860s6
1870s2
1880s5
1890s4
1900s6
1910s4
1920s2
1930s3
1940s1
1950s4
1960s2
1970s3
1980s2
1990s4
2000s5
2010s2
2020s1

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 19 in Sep.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May2Jun5Jul5Aug18Sep19Oct6Nov3Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May2
Jun5
Jul5
Aug18
Sep19
Oct6
Nov3
Dec0

Strongest storms near Washington County

  • Michael (2018)6 October 2018 to 15 October 2018, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 920 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1882 (North Atlantic)1 September 1882 to 13 September 1882, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 949 hPa
  • Eloise (1975)13 September 1975 to 24 September 1975, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 950 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1894 (North Atlantic)26 September 1894 to 12 October 1894, peak Category 3 (105 kt)
  • Unnamed storm of August 1851 (North Atlantic)16 August 1851 to 28 August 1851, peak Category 3 (100 kt)

Most recent storms near Washington County

  • Fred (2021)9 August 2021 to 20 August 2021, peak Tropical storm (55 kt), 991 hPa
  • Michael (2018)6 October 2018 to 15 October 2018, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 920 hPa
  • Alberto (2018)25 May 2018 to 31 May 2018, peak Tropical storm (55 kt), 990 hPa

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

A storm that came near several counties counts in each one, so county counts add up to more than the state's.

Notable storms near Washington County

  • Michael (2018)6 October 2018 to 15 October 2018, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 920 hPa
  • Eloise (1975)13 September 1975 to 24 September 1975, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 950 hPa
  • Kate (1985)15 November 1985 to 23 November 1985, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 954 hPa
  • Florence (1953)23 September 1953 to 27 September 1953, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 968 hPa
  • Agnes (1972)14 June 1972 to 23 June 1972, peak Category 1 (70 kt), 977 hPa

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