Gutters · Clearwater
Gutters in Clearwater, FL
About 53.62 inches of rain falls in a normal year at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, and NOAA's Atlas 14 point inside Clearwater puts a 10-year, 5-minute burst at 9.83 inches an hour. Gutters in Clearwater have to move that burst off the roof and away from the walls, and stand up to salt air near the Gulf and the harbor.
Updated October 2026
Local know-how
9.83 inches an hour and a June-to-September rain season
At 9.83 inches an hour, about 0.82 inch of rain lands in five minutes, and the 100-year version of that burst at Clearwater's Atlas 14 point is 13.1 inches an hour. Roughly 62–63% of the year's normal rain falls from June through September, and the National Weather Service puts this coast's rainy season at about May 25 to October 10.
Sizing follows the burst. A 6-inch half-round gutter at 1/8 inch per foot is rated at 110 gallons a minute in the plumbing code's table, a 5-inch at 74 (FBC-Plumbing Table 1106.6). With the SMACNA rule that 96.15 square feet at 1 inch an hour equals 1 gallon a minute, the 6-inch serves about 1,076 square feet of roof plan area at 9.83 inches an hour, and the 5-inch about 724.
Coast
Salt air, hangers and downspouts on Clearwater houses
Water covers 27.3% of Clearwater's area, and Clearwater Beach sits out across the Intracoastal Waterway. FEMA notes metal corrosion is most pronounced within 3,000 feet of the ocean. The residential code asks for metal or plastic gutters with lapped, soldered or caulked joints, held by corrosion-resistant fasteners of a compatible material (FBCR R903.4.2).
Hangers carry the wind load. One hidden-hanger maker lists 24 inches on center as standard, and for coastal and storm-prone areas recommends its clip option, aluminum for salt air and 16-inch spacing for more uplift resistance. Debby's 55-knot gust at Clearwater Beach in 2024 is the kind of wind that spacing is meant for.
Downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall, by underground pipe, extension or splash block (FBCR R318.5), and the same section requires gutters only where eaves project less than 6 inches.
Rain on your roof
How much water a Clearwater roof sheds
Rain on your roof
Preset: 7.14 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at Clearwater).
8,896 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.
Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.
Questions
Gutters in Clearwater: questions
How often should Clearwater gutters be cleaned?
At least twice a year, spring and fall, by a Florida home insurer's guidance, and more often under trees or after storms. Oaks shed pollen from January to June, peaking in March and April, and pine needles fall most from September through November (UF/IFAS). In Clearwater, where roughly 62–63% of a normal year's 53.62 inches of rain falls from June through September, a clean gutter before summer matters most.
Sources for this page(22)
- 1.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, stations USC00087886 ST PETERSBURG and USW00012873 ST PETERSBURG INTL AP. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 2.U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2020 place geography (AREALAND/AREAWATER) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 3.Wikipedia, "Clearwater, Florida" (secondary source). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 4.Hurricane Debby (2024). NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Debby. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 5.Median year homes were built: 1978. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 6.National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 7.2023 Florida Building Code, Plumbing, 8th ed., Chapter 11 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from COM-20 (the research cites it "as COM-20").
- 8.bergerbp.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 9.FEMA P-499 Technical Fact Sheet 1.7 , mirror. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 10.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 9 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from COM-29 (the research cites it "as COM-29").
- 11.Gutterall 6K hanger. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 12.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 8 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from NC-2 (the research cites it "as NC-2").
- 13.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., R318.5 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription); FBC-Building 1503.7. Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7).
- 14.thig.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 15.blogs.ifas.ufl.edu. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 16.ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 17.consumerreports.org. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 18.law.cornell.edu. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 19.FEMA. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 20.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9, version 2, point precipitation frequency estimates (partial-duration series) at Clearwater, NOAA National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026. Point: the 2020 TIGER internal point of the city (TIGERweb 2020 incorporated place internal point (INTPTLAT/INTPTLON)).
- 21.NWS Melbourne, Lightning Facts and Trivia. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 22.NOAA Atlas 14 at Clearwater: 9.83 in/hr (5-minute, 10-year). NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation Frequency Data Server. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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Gutters in Clearwater
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