1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak
| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | February 21–23, 1998 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | 15 confirmed |
| Max. rating1 | F3 tornado |
| Duration of tornado outbreak2 | 1 day, 8 hours, 25 minutes |
| Fatalities | 42 fatalities, ≥ 259 injuries |
| Damage | $107.304 million (1998 USD) $207 million (2025 USD) |
| Areas affected | Gulf Coastal Plain and the Interstate 4 corridor in Central Florida |
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1998 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
On February 21–23, 1998, a devastating tornado outbreak affected portions of the Southeastern United States, primarily the U.S. state of Florida. It was the deadliest tornado event in Florida history. In all, 15 tornadoes touched down, one of which was long lived and tracked for nearly 40 miles (64 km). Affecting mainly the Interstate 4 (I-4) corridor of Central Florida, including the Greater Orlando area, the tornadoes—among the strongest ever recorded in Florida—produced near-violent damage, killed 42 people, and caused 259 injuries.
One of the tornadoes was initially rated an F4 on the Fujita scale—among only two others officially so designated in the State of Florida, in 1958 and 1966—but was subsequently downgraded to a high-end F3; with 25 fatalities, most of which occurred in and near Kissimmee, this tornado featured the deadliest single-tornado death toll in Florida history, the previous such record being 17 on March 31, 1962. Two other F3s and a couple of additional strong tornadoes occurred over portions of Central Florida during the outbreak, killing an additional 17 people and injuring 109 others.
As the most intense activity of the outbreak occurred after sunset, concentrated either shortly prior to or after midnight, and affected densely populated portions of the I-4 corridor, including numerous mobile home and recreational vehicle (RV) parks, many sleeping residents became casualties; of the 42 deaths, 40 occurred in manufactured housing or trailers, including 15 at the Morningside Acres mobile home park and eight at the Ponderosa RV Park, both of which were located in Kissimmee.