Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shalimar, FL

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Destin Fort Walton Airport, FL, 7 miles southeast of Shalimar at 22 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 76°F; January is the coolest, at 63°F and 45°F. August is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 55.4 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (28.7 of 55.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 75 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (23); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 5.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 50 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 6 nights a year. That 55.4 inches is more than at 72 of the 125 Florida stations used on this site (58%). Hurlburt Field, 5 miles west, has its own station (Niceville, FL): 73.6 inches a year, 18.2 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 124 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shalimar: 90 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 flash floods, 6 lightning strikes and 3 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 25, and the NWS estimated $3.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on February 21, 2003. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 25. Of the 277 Florida cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 241 have had fewer than Shalimar.

Flood insurance policyholders in Shalimar's ZIP code 32579 have filed 518 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $16.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Opal in 1995: 180 claims (35% of all) and $5.2 million, then Hurricane Ivan in 2004 with 176 and Hurricane Sally in 2020 with 38. 92% 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, 205 have fewer than Shalimar.