Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ruskin, FL

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tampa Bay Area WFO, FL, 3 miles east of Ruskin at 40 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 72°F and 51°F. August is the wettest at 8.8 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 53.7 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 70% of the year's precipitation (37.5 of 53.7 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 76 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (24); a normal September there has highs of 90°F and 7.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 97 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 53.7 inches is more than at 58 of the 125 Florida stations used on this site (46%). Parrish, 9 miles south, has its own station (Parrish, FL): 54.4 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and an August average high of 90°F against 91°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Port Manatee, FL, 9 miles southwest, averaged 89°F in July and 62°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to September. Sea level at the Port Manatee tide gauge, 9 miles from Ruskin, has risen 2.15 ± 0.13 inches per decade from 1976 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 21.5 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 123 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 39 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ruskin: 24 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods, 5 heavy rain events and 5 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on April 7, 2005.

Flood insurance policyholders in Ruskin's ZIP code 33570 have filed 1,173 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $49.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Helene in 2024: 622 claims (53% of all) and $40.9 million, then Blizzard of 1993 in 1993 with 94 and Hurricane Josephine in 1996 with 92. 95% 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, 246 have fewer than Ruskin.