Tornado History Map

Polk County, Florida tornado history

177 tornadoes recorded in or across Polk County from 1951 to 2024, coloured by rating on the map.

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Years1950 to 2025
Rating (F or EF scale)

Shows tornadoes that started in, or crossed, the chosen state. To see how many have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • F0 / EF0 Light damage
  • F1 / EF1 Moderate damage
  • F2 / EF2 Considerable damage
  • F3 / EF3 Severe damage
  • F4 / EF4 Devastating damage
  • F5 / EF5 Incredible damage
  • Unknown Not rated (2007 onwards)

How to read the lines. Each line is one tornado, drawn from where it started to where it ended, coloured and sized by its rating. A dot means the record has no end point. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see how many tornadoes have passed nearby. Weaker tornadoes appear as you zoom in. Ratings use the Fujita (F) scale before 1 February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from then on.

Tornadoes in Polk County

The Storm Prediction Center records 177 tornadoes whose paths touched Polk County, Florida between 1951 and 2024. They killed 12 people and injured 625. The busiest month is June, with 39 tornadoes. The strongest was an F4 on 4 April 1966. The most recent was on 26 September 2024.

  • 177tornadoes
  • 12deaths
  • 625injuries
  • 985per 10,000 sq mi of land

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

How strong were the tornadoes in Polk County?

RatingTornadoesShare
F0 / EF011163%
F1 / EF14827%
F2 / EF2169%
F3 / EF300%
F4 / EF421%
F5 / EF500%
Unknown rating00%

Polk County tornadoes over time

Tornadoes by decade
Bar chart of tornadoes by period. The most is 52 in 1990s.1950s101960s151970s241980s341990s522000s232010s132020s6

The 2020s only run to 2024, so that bar is for a shorter period. The record starts in 1950.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1950s10
1960s15
1970s24
1980s34
1990s52
2000s23
2010s13
2020s6
Tornadoes by month
Bar chart of tornadoes by period. The most is 39 in Jun.Jan9Feb10Mar17Apr16May22Jun39Jul20Aug10Sep12Oct6Nov6Dec10
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan9
Feb10
Mar17
Apr16
May22
Jun39
Jul20
Aug10
Sep12
Oct6
Nov6
Dec10

Records for Polk County

Notable tornadoes in Polk County

Many of these tornadoes killed or injured people. The numbers are the official record's, and they may be revised.

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