NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Inlet Beach, FL
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
72 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Inlet Beach, Florida since 1851, 29 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Mindy in 2021. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 29
- Tropical storms
- 43
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Inlet Beach
The strongest storm to pass near Inlet Beach was Michael in 2018, a Category 5 hurricane with 159 mph winds when its centre passed 31 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1856, whose centre came within 4 miles. The record near Inlet Beach begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Mindy in 2021, a tropical storm 61 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 8 systems, 3 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 72 systems, 11 have come since 2000. Inlet Beach has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 67% of the 407 Florida cities on this site. The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on January 9, 2024, came within 14 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on September 15, 2004, killed 1 person. Of the 108, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. January has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on May 13, 2024. Of the 407 Florida cities, 61% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Inlet Beach. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 1972, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 407 Florida cities, 97% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Inlet Beach.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Inlet Beach
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | MindySep 9 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2021 | FredAug 16 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2019 | NestorOct 19 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 10 | 31 mi | Category 5 (159 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2018 | AlbertoMay 28 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2009 | ClaudetteAug 17 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | FayAug 23 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2005 | DennisJul 10 | 62 mi | Category 3 (125 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2004 | BonnieAug 12 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2001 | BarryAug 6 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2000 | HeleneSep 22 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1998 | EarlSep 3 | 17 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 4 | 66 mi | Category 2 (106 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1995 | ErinAug 3 | 48 mi | Category 1 (89 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1994 | BerylAug 15 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1994 | AlbertoJul 3 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1985 | KateNov 21 | 36 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | ElenaSep 2 | 57 mi | Category 3 (125 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 22 mi | Category 3 (127 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 19 | 23 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1970 | BeckyJul 22 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | Unnamed 1969 stormOct 1 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 15 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1964 | HildaOct 5 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | DebbieSep 8 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1956 | FlossySep 25 | 21 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1953 | FlorenceSep 26 | 16 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1953 | AliceJun 6 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1948 | Unnamed 1948 stormJul 9 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1939 | Unnamed 1939 stormAug 13 | 10 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1937 | Unnamed 1937 stormSep 20 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1937 | Unnamed 1937 stormAug 31 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormJul 31 | 35 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 15 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 1 | 13 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 14 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormSep 20 | 43 mi | Category 3 (124 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 15 | 52 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1919 | Unnamed 1919 stormJul 4 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1917 | Unnamed 1917 stormSep 29 | 35 mi | Category 2 (102 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 33 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1914 | Unnamed 1914 stormSep 18 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1911 | Unnamed 1911 stormAug 11 | 60 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 28 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormJun 28 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 12 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormNov 3 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 14 | 15 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 10 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 17 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormAug 2 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormAug 3 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 7 | 32 mi | Category 2 (97 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 9 | 18 mi | Category 3 (121 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 23 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 27 | 40 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 30 | 58 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormSep 28 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormSep 21 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormAug 30 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 45 mi | Category 3 (113 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormAug 31 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormOct 16 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 10 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 3 | 32 mi | Category 3 (115 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormSep 19 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 27 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1871 | Unnamed 1871 stormOct 5 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1868 | Unnamed 1868 stormOct 4 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1867 | Unnamed 1867 stormOct 5 | 59 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormAug 31 | 4 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormAug 23 | 18 mi | Category 3 (115 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Inlet Beach: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Inlet Beach
By decade
- 2020s29(1 EF3+)
- 2010s7
- 2000s13
- 1990s14
- 1980s23
- 1970s10
- 1960s6(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 1967 | F3 | 24 mi | 7.1 mi | 1 / 50 |
| Jan 9, 2024 | EF3 | 14 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 12, 1975 | F2 | 16 mi | 168.5 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Jan 9, 2024 | EF2 | 22 mi | 0.88 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 2024 | EF2 | 18 mi | 12.89 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jan 22, 2023 | EF2 | 24 mi | 0.78 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 2022 | EF2 | 15 mi | 1.64 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 10, 2021 | EF2 | 2 mi | 0.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 2, 1999 | F2 | 10 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Sep 15, 1960 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1960 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 18, 1960 | F2 | 8 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Inlet Beach
The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Inlet Beach since 1972. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on May 8, 1972. The most recent report is from April 27, 2023.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Inlet Beach
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Panama City 5N, FL, 17 miles east of Inlet Beach at 5 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 75°F; January is the coolest, at 64°F and 43°F. July and August are the wettest at 7.4 inches of precipitation on average and May the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 61.3 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (34.8 of 61.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 72 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (24); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 7.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 67 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 16 nights a year. That 61.3 inches is more than at 98 of the 125 Florida stations used on this site (78%). Santa Rosa Beach, 16 miles northwest, has its own station (Destin Fort Walton Airport, FL): 55.4 inches a year, 5.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 91°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Panama City Beach, FL, 5 miles southeast, averaged 87°F in August and 60°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from June to September. Sea level at the Panama City Beach tide gauge, 5 miles from Inlet Beach, has risen 1.91 ± 0.15 inches per decade from 1989 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 19.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 116 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 64 | 43 | 4.8 | 7 | 60 |
| Feb | 67 | 46 | 5.0 | 6 | 62 |
| Mar | 73 | 52 | 5.0 | 6 | 67 |
| Apr | 79 | 58 | 4.1 | 5 | 71 |
| May | 85 | 66 | 3.3 | 4 | 78 |
| Jun | 89 | 73 | 5.8 | 9 | 83 |
| Jul | 91 | 75 | 7.4 | 9 | 85 |
| Aug | 91 | 75 | 7.4 | 11 | 87 |
| Sep | 89 | 71 | 7.0 | 7 | 84 |
| Oct | 82 | 61 | 3.5 | 4 | 78 |
| Nov | 73 | 50 | 3.7 | 4 | 71 |
| Dec | 67 | 45 | 4.3 | 6 | 64 |
| Year | 79 | 59 | 61.3 | 77 | 74 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Panama City 5N, FL (5 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Panama City Beach, FL, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Inlet Beach
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 81 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Inlet Beach: 36 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 flash floods, 9 floods and 8 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $13.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on February 15, 2021. September has had the most flash floods, 8 of 28. Of the 277 Florida cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 251 have had fewer than Inlet Beach.
July 3, 2007: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Inlet Beach — 1 injured.
May 2, 2014: flood 3 miles from the centre of Inlet Beach — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain from the previous week breached the levee in the Intracoastal Waterway at the Bay-Walton county line, shutting down barge traffic. This resulted in a local gas shortage for Panama City as none of the barges could deliver gasoline to the local market.”
April 30, 2014: flood 10 miles from the centre of Inlet Beach — $2.2 million damage.
NWS: “Major flooding occurred across Washington county at the end of the month due to a combination of very heavy rainfall and already saturated conditions. Many roads in the county sustained damage with damage estimated at $2,155,731.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Inlet Beach's ZIP code 32461 have filed 82 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1988, and were paid $800,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Opal in 1995: 25 claims (30% of all) and $240,000, then Hurricane Ivan in 2004 with 13 and Hurricane Dennis in 2005 with 11. 80% 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, 98 have fewer than Inlet Beach.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Opal1995 | 25 | $240,000 |
| Hurricane Ivan2004 | 13 | $93,000 |
| Hurricane Dennis2005 | 11 | $414,000 |
Bay County, which includes Inlet Beach, has been named in 50 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1975, 31 of them major disasters (by incident: 26 hurricanes, 8 severe storms, 5 fires, 5 tropical storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene, on September 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bay County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hurricanes and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, coastal flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $157.9 million a year, the 19th highest of 67 Florida counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $117.8 million (75%), is from hurricanes.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Inlet Beach in the notable storm records: Hurricane Michael (2018)
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Inlet Beach
- Panama City Beach, FL8 mi
- Santa Rosa Beach, FL16 mi
- Lynn Haven, FL18 mi
- Panama City, FL20 mi
- Freeport, FL21 mi
- Vernon, FL23 mi
- Youngstown, FL26 mi
- Miramar Beach, FL26 mi
- Ponce De Leon, FL28 mi
- Destin, FL31 mi
- Defuniak Springs, FL34 mi
- Chipley, FL34 mi
All Florida cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Inlet Beach with another place →