Storm Season

Live Atlantic tropical systems from the National Hurricane Center, with the county's season calendar, a riverfront prep list, and who to call when the power and water go out.

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Town Tools builds free, public tools for St. Augustine South and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

The season, on a calendar

We are in the peak weeks of the season.

Period	When
Hurricane season	June 1 – November 30	now
Local peak	August 15 – October 15	now

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and the busiest, most dangerous stretch for this coast is mid-August through mid-October. Northeast Florida's worst surge comes up the Matanzas and the Intracoastal, not just off the ocean.

Hurricane Matthew, October 2016 — the benchmark on the Matanzas

Matthew passed offshore on October 7, 2016 without a landfall, and still pushed the water about seven feet up the Matanzas River. Just south of St. Augustine the surge cut a new inlet clean through the barrier island and stripped a twelve-foot dune; in the city, water stood several feet deep in the streets. The lesson for the riverfront: it doesn't take a direct hit for the Matanzas to come up over Shore Drive.

Irma followed in 2017 and Milton in 2024, both triggering mandatory evacuations that reached riverfront St. Johns County. The pattern residents plan around: know your evacuation zone before the season, and leave early when the order comes — the riverfront is among the first areas called.

Before a storm — a resident’s list

Look up your evacuation zone now, before a storm is named — the Matanzas riverfront is in the county's earliest-to-leave areas. Use the county's My Evacuation Zone locator.

Charge phones and power banks, and keep several days of drinking water and no-cook food — outages after a big storm can run for days.

Bring in or tie down anything loose on docks, decks and yards; boats and gear become missiles in the wind, and the ramps flood.

Refill prescriptions early, keep some cash, and know the nearest open pharmacy and hospital before the storm.

If you're told to evacuate, go early — bridges close and roads back up. Check on older neighbors, and don't drive through moving water.

After it passes, stay well clear of downed power lines and report them to FPL.

Storm Season

About these tools

The season, on a calendar

Hurricane Matthew, October 2016 — the benchmark on the Matanzas

Before a storm — a resident’s list

Who to call