No active hurricanes threatening Fort Lauderdale right now

Could the next one hit soon? 201 hurricanes have impacted the Fort Lauderdale area since 1853 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

201
Hurricanes affecting Fort Lauderdale area
2022
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
2 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Low-lying barrier-island coast and extensive canals make storm surge and coastal flooding the dominant threats in Fort Lauderdale — recent impacts from Hurricane Ian (2022) and Eta (2020) underscore its vulnerability to powerful storms riding up the southeast Florida coast.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Fort Lauderdale area — including Dania, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Coconut Creek, Hallandale, Lighthouse Point, Pembroke Pines, North Miami Beach. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Fort Lauderdale area?

Distribution of 201 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Fort Lauderdale, by month of closest approach.

J
1 F
M
A
5 M
18 J
14 J
47 A
53 S
52 O
10 N
1 D

Recent notable storms affecting the Fort Lauderdale area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2025 IMELDA Cat 1 80 kt 189 mi
2024 MILTON Cat 5 155 kt 154 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 84 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 122 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 178 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 36 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 51 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 92 mi
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 114 mi
2019 HUMBERTO Cat 3 110 kt 199 mi
2017 IRMA Cat 5 155 kt 99 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 80 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 179 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 111 mi
2012 ISAAC Cat 1 70 kt 185 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Fort Lauderdale. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Fort Lauderdale

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1903 UNNAMED Cat 1 80 kt 2 mi Sep 11, 1903
1947 UNNAMED Cat 4 125 kt 2 mi Sep 17, 1947
1968 UNNAMED TD 30 kt 5 mi Sep 27, 1968
1909 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 9 mi Jun 28, 1909
1924 UNNAMED Cat 5 145 kt 9 mi Oct 21, 1924
2005 KATRINA Cat 5 150 kt 9 mi Aug 25, 2005
1901 UNNAMED Cat 1 80 kt 12 mi Aug 10, 1901
1964 CLEO Cat 4 130 kt 13 mi Aug 27, 1964
1972 DAWN Cat 1 70 kt 15 mi Sep 06, 1972
1935 UNNAMED Cat 2 90 kt 15 mi Nov 04, 1935
Showing the 10 closest of 201 total storms within 150 mi of Fort Lauderdale since 1853.

If a hurricane threatens Fort Lauderdale

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Broward County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Fort Lauderdale

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Fort Lauderdale (26.1216°N, 80.1288°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Fort Lauderdale — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.