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Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Walton Beaches census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32459. It stands on Churchill Bayou. The Survey maps it on the Freeport quadrangle. It stands 193 feet above sea level.

Santa Rosa Beach within Walton County

Then and now

1936 to 1996

The same ground, surveyed 60 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Santa Rosa Beach, surveyed 1996
Topographic sheet of Santa Rosa Beach, surveyed 1936

Compare 1936 against another survey:

On record in Santa Rosa Beach

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 16 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

228 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 228 fires within 5 miles of Santa Rosa Beach between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,454 acres in total. 22 started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning42
Missing data/not specified/undetermined38
Railroad operations and maintenance36
Equipment and vehicle use26
Natural22
Smoking22
Misuse of fire by a minor21
Arson/incendiarism9
Fireworks5
Recreation and ceremony4
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1997Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
7 September 2003Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceMONKS LANE
7 September 1997Smokingunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
4 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance5.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
23 September 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreFlorida Forest Service2003-02-1082
23 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
21 September 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceHWY 98 1309 (66)
21 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Walton County

Storms near this place

36 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Santa Rosa Beach in 36 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 10 flash flood, 4 tornado, 3 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2002Tornado (F1)Santa Rosa Beach$400,000A tornado touched down and damaged numerous mobile homes along U.S. Highway 98. One home was blown completely off its foundation. Numerous trees and power lines were snapped. Reported by the Walton County EMA.
June 2001LightningSanta Rosa Beach$150,000Four homes in Santa Rosa Beach were struck by lightning. Reported by the Fort Walton Beach Daily News.
January 2024Tornado (EF1)Santa Rosa Beach$100,000The tornado initially moved onshore with damage to trees and buildings at the intersection of W County Highway 30A and Laura Hamilton Blvd consistent with an EF-1 rating. It would then proceed to continue moving off to the northeast sporadically damaging trees and roofs of houses across the area. The tornado would then cross through a majority wooded area before crossing US Highway 98 before entering the woods once again. A high concentration of damage to homes and trees consistent with an EF-1 rating was found off of Chat Holly Rd. before the tornado crossed Choctawhatchee Bay. Max winds were estimated near 110 mph. The tornado would then parallel US Highway 331 as it crossed the bay before making landfall once again at Bay Grove Rd. where numerous manufactured homes were damaged along with tree damage consistent with an EF-1 rating. EF-1 damage had been observed leading up to US 331 where the tornado appears to have dissipated. Thanks to Walton County Emergency Management for assistance with this damage survey.
January 1998Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$30,000One barn sustained minor damage and a large shed was destroyed from strong thunderstorm winds.
September 2015Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach$25,000Five to six inches of water entered homes on Highway 393 about 1 mile north of Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. Damage was estimated.
March 1999Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$25,000Minor roof damage to a tin barn. Damage to some vehicles caused by flying debris.
June 2016LightningSanta Rosa Beach$10,000A lightning strike caused damage to a roof and drywall at 67 Santa Barbara Ave in Santa Rosa Beach. Damage was estimated.
December 2005Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$5,000Semi truck turned over a half mile east of Highway 383 and U.S. Highway 98. Reported by the Walton County Fire/Rescue.
December 2000Tornado (F0)Santa Rosa Beach$2,500Several small trees down on County Road 6 about 1/8 mile north of Highway 20. Reported by the Walton County EMA.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$2,000A privacy fence was blown over.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$2,000Power lines were blown down and the Clyde B Wells Bridge was shut down.
July 2012LightningSanta Rosa Beach$2,000The Highway 331 water tower was struck by lightning, and no power or water pressure was reported in Santa Rosa Beach.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach$1,000A couple of trees were blown down around Santa Rosa Beach.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-Two trees blew down.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-The Ed Walline Beach Access WeatherSTEM measured a wind gust of 106 mph.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-An Ambient station gusted to 60 mph.
February 2024Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-Wunderground station KFLSANTA6 measured a wind gust of 65 mph.
May 2024Tornado (EFU)Santa Rosa Beach-The media forwarded a video of a waterspout moving onshore as a tornado just off the US-331 bridge at North Beach social. No damage was reported.
July 2023Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-The intersection of Highway 98 and Highway 331 was down to a single lane due to flooding.
July 2023Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-A large portion of Duffy Lane was covered in water.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-Large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-A Tempest weather station gusted to 59 mph.
April 2021Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Flooding was reported on Highway 393.
September 2020Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Cessna Landing Park was closed due to flooding.
September 2020Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Deal Circle was flooded near Whisper Lane.
April 2014FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Rendezvous Drive off of Transversal Road was flooded and closed.
April 2014Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Significant flash flooding occurred for an unusually long period of time as very heavy rain moved repeatedly over the area. On Highway 393, at least one car was stalled out in high water.
April 2014Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Significant flash flooding occurred for an unusually long period of time as very heavy rain moved repeatedly over the area. At least three vehicles stalled out in high water on Thompson Road. Water was up to the door handles on one car.
April 2014Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Significant flash flooding occurred for an unusually long period of time as very heavy rain moved repeatedly over the area. On Spotted Dolphin Drive, all homes were taking on water with stalled vehicles in the area.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindSanta Rosa Beach-A 62 mph wind gust was measured by a trained spotter near Highway 331 on the southern portion of Choctawhatchee Bay.
August 2013Flash FloodSanta Rosa Beach-Water was reported over numerous south Walton county roads per the Walton Alert Facebook page. Some roads were under more than a foot of water in developed areas near the coast with water washing up close to some homes on secondary roads.
November 2004Funnel CloudSanta Rosa Beach-A SKYWARN storm spotter observed a funnel cloud moving toward the beach.
July 2002HailSanta Rosa Beach-Dime size hail reported near the south side of Choctawhatchee Bay by the public.
March 2001WaterspoutSanta Rosa Beach-Several sightings of a waterspout near the U.S. Highway 331 bridge over the Choctawhatchee Bay. Reported by the Walton County EMA.
August 1999HailSanta Rosa Beach-Walton County S.O. reported dime size hail.
June 2025HailSanta Rosa Beach-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Walton County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Grosh2.9 miles17
Dune Allen Beach3.1 miles17
Beach Highlands3.2 miles17
Blue Gulf Beach4.0 miles17
Blue Mountain Beach4.4 miles17
Turquoise Beach4.4 miles17
La Grange Point4.6 miles16
Choctaw Bay Estates5.1 miles16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Santa Rosa BeachAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7419873The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 290660. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.