Since official record began in 1950 up through the end of 2012, there have been 3,139 recorded tornadoes in Florida. Tha actual number of tornadoes is probably much higher, as prior to the 1990s, many of the weaker tornadoes were missed.
Tornadoes can hit Florida at any time of year, but the greatest number happen in the summer, with the highest activity occuring in the months of June through September.
Florida has a very warm, moist, almost tropical climate. This provides a lot of energy to fuel thunderstorms that are often triggered by weather fronts that bass through. Some of these storms can produce tornadoes.
While Florida gets a large number of tornadoes overall, they are generally weaker than those in other parts of the U.S. so Florida does not have much in the way of very infamous tornadoes. One of the most well known, though, was the Kissimmee tornado of February 22, 1998. This F3 tornado tore through the Kissimmee area south of Orlando, killing 25 people, most of them in a trailer park. It was the deadliest tornado in Florida history and one of the deadliest tornadoes on record that was not an F4 or F5.
Florida experiences warm weather year round, however in the later winter and early spring the upper atmosphere is cold, which makes for an unstable atmosphere if the lower atmosphere remains warm. This, combined with a cold front can lead to thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes.
They can, but most tornadoes happen on land.
Since records began in 1950, through 2011 there were 3651 tornadoes in March (for an average of 59 per year). The number in March 2012 is highly uncertain. There were 3 confirmed tornadoes on March 1. As of March 2 there is an extremely large tornado outbreak ongoing. The number of tornadoes will be in the dozens, but it is impossible to know what the final number will be. Surveying and confirming these tornadoes will take days.
Tornadoes are commonly known for tearing swaths of destruction through communities.
There were 165 recorded tornadoes in Texas in 1999.
Yes they actually can. These water tornadoes are also known as watersprouts.
That would be highly unlikely. Trees do not stop tornadoes and many tornadoes have gone through forests.
Tornadoes cause damage through their extremely fast winds and through debris carried by those winds.