Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Apalachicola, FL

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Apalachicola Airport, FL, in Apalachicola at 20 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 75°F; January is the coolest, at 64°F and 44°F. August is the wettest at 8.4 inches of precipitation on average and May the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 58.0 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 60% of the year's precipitation (34.7 of 58.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 81 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (24); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 5.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 74 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 13 nights a year. That 58.0 inches is more than at 90 of the 125 Florida stations used on this site (72%). Port St Joe, 20 miles northwest, has its own station (Apalachicola Airport, FL): 53.1 inches a year, 4.9 less than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 92°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Apalachicola, FL, 3 miles east, averaged 87°F in August and 56°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from June to September. Sea level at the Apalachicola tide gauge, 3 miles from Apalachicola, has risen 1.20 ± 0.11 inches per decade from 1967 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 70 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 47 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Apalachicola: 29 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $224,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 77 mph, on February 26, 2013. September has had the most flash floods, 8 of 10. Of the 277 Florida cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 181 have had fewer than Apalachicola.

Flood insurance policyholders in Apalachicola's ZIP code 32320 have filed 232 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $6.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Michael in 2018: 53 claims (23% of all) and $3.5 million, then Hurricane Dennis in 2005 with 42 and Hurricane Opal in 1995 with 30. 81% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 340 Florida cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 160 have fewer than Apalachicola.