[lainbow]

Do houses in Florida usually get built with basements? How common are tornadoes in Florida? What time of year do they normally occur? Do hurricanes hit Florida any time of year?

[ferret111]

Most Florida homes do not have basements due to the water table. You will only find basements in select older homes and a few older buildings, like old downtown department stores.

Tornadoes can happen, but I don't think they are all that common.

Hurricane season is--what--May to November? Some years we get absolutely no hurricanes, while in 2004, we got four. Unlike earthquakes, we can see hurricanes coming days in advance and can usually figure out where they will hit, but they can change at the last minute.

[annaegel]

As ferret111 said about basements are true.

Florida has the highest number of tornadoes. They count the water spouts as a tornado. The tornadoes aren't as powerful as the tornadoes in tornado alley. Not sure if we ever had an f5 here. Summer time we get pretty awesome storms. With those storms, you may get tornadoes.

Our hurricane season is from June 1st through November 30th. The peak hurricane season is Sept.

[lainbow]

thanks for the answers. is it possible to have a hurricane when it is not the season for them? have there ever been hurricanes in the winter months?

[ferret111]

One of the most surreal experiences I've ever had was when I was driving along US 27 somewhere outside of Clewiston one summer day. Since it's nothing but sugar cane fields down there, there aren't any trees to obscure vision. It was perfectly sunny where I was driving, but I could see miles into the distance, where it was gray and rainy, and there was a giant funnel cloud. Just thought that was kind of cool.

[Optional Angel]

Most florida homes don't have basements, no. We do have tornadoes, they're usually not as strong as you would see in the Midwest and most of them are over water anyways.

[doom1001]

Originally Posted by lainbow

thanks for the answers. is it possible to have a hurricane when it is not the season for them? have there ever been hurricanes in the winter months?

It's not unheard of for a hurricane to develop in the months close to hurricane season,the earliest hurricane to ever form was in March and the latest was in December,however although they may form the chances of them actually lasting or making a landfall greatly decreases.The water temperatures decrease causing them to not have the energy to form into anything serious as well as cold fronts coming down and tearing up anything that may form.The real serious and dangerous months are July though early October.