Gutters · St. Petersburg
Gutters in St. Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg averages 52.48 inches of rain a year, and NOAA's Atlas 14 point in the city puts a 10-year, 5-minute burst at 10.1 inches an hour. Gutters in St. Petersburg have to be sized for that burst, not the yearly total, or they spill over in exactly the storms that matter.
Updated October 2026
St. Petersburg figures this page uses
- People (2020 Census)
- 258,308
- Population estimate (ACS 5-year)
- 262,732
- Median age
- 43.1yrs
- Housing units (ACS 5-year)
- 141,508
Local know-how
10.1 inches an hour: sizing for St. Petersburg downpours
A 10.1-inch hourly rate drops about 0.84 inch of water in five minutes. Across the ten Florida points pulled for our research, the same 10-year, 5-minute rate runs from 8.71 inches an hour at Orlando to 11.3 at West Palm Beach, which puts St. Petersburg toward the wet end.
Most of the year's rain comes in summer: roughly 62–63% of the normal falls from June through September. Milton showed the extreme, with 20.40 inches near St. Petersburg in 2024.
The plumbing code rates a 6-inch half-round gutter at 1/8 inch per foot of slope at 110 gallons a minute, and a 5-inch at 74 (FBC-Plumbing Table 1106.6). By the SMACNA conversion, 96.15 square feet of roof at 1 inch an hour makes 1 gallon a minute. At 10.1 inches an hour, that 6-inch gutter serves about 1,047 square feet of roof plan area and the 5-inch about 704.
That is arithmetic on published numbers, not a code requirement, but it shows how fast a long roof slope outruns a 5-inch gutter in a St. Petersburg cloudburst.
Code
When the code requires gutters, and salt air near the bay
Gutters are not mandatory on every St. Petersburg house. The residential code requires gutters with downspouts where eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable rakes or on a roof above another roof, and downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall (FBCR R318.5).
Material choices matter near salt water. The code calls for metal or approved plastic gutters held with corrosion-resistant fasteners compatible with the gutter (FBCR R903.4.2). FEMA notes metal corrosion is most pronounced within 3,000 feet of the ocean, and water covers 51.6% of St. Petersburg's area, so check your distance to the bay or the Gulf before choosing metal and fasteners.
On this coast the rainy season runs roughly May 25 to October 10 (NWS Tampa Bay), and a Florida home insurer recommends cleaning gutters at least twice a year, more often under trees.
Rain on your roof
How much water a St. Petersburg roof sheds
Rain on your roof
Preset: 7.55 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at St. Petersburg).
9,407 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.
Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.
Questions
Gutters in St. Petersburg: questions
Do St. Petersburg houses need gutters?
The code requires them only where eaves project less than 6 inches, with downspouts discharging at least 1 foot from the wall (FBCR R318.5). Outside that rule they are a choice, and the rain makes the case: about 52.48 inches a year at St. Petersburg, with roughly 62–63% of it falling from June through September. Gutters move that water off the walls and away from the foundation, and the code places the downspout rule in its termite-protection section for that reason.
Should a St. Petersburg house get 5-inch or 6-inch gutters?
For long roof slopes, 6-inch. By the plumbing code's table, a 6-inch half-round gutter carries about 49% more than a 5-inch at the same slope, 110 gallons a minute against 74. At St. Petersburg's 10-year, 5-minute rate of 10.1 inches an hour, that works out to roughly 1,047 square feet of roof plan area for the 6-inch and 704 for the 5-inch. Measure the roof area that drains to each run before you choose, and add downspouts where a run serves more.
Do I need a permit to install gutters in St. Petersburg?
Ask the city first. Florida requires a permit to alter or repair a building, and ordinary minor repairs can skip one only with the building official's approval (FBC-B 105.2.2). In St. Petersburg that official works in the City of St. Petersburg's Building Permits office. The city's HB 803 exemption excludes roofing, so if the gutters go up as part of a new roof, plan on the roof permit; for a gutter-only job, the building official decides.
Sources for this page(17)
- 1.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, stations USC00087886 ST PETERSBURG and USW00012873 ST PETERSBURG INTL AP. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 2.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Milton. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 3.U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2020 place geography (AREALAND/AREAWATER) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 4.Permit office: City of St. Petersburg - Building Permits. City of St. Petersburg - Building Permits. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 5.City of St. Petersburg, Building Permits (official). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 6.NOAA Atlas 14 (HDSC Precipitation Frequency Data Server). 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.
- 9.2023 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).
- 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.FEMA P-499 Technical Fact Sheet 1.7 , mirror. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 12.National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 13.thig.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 14.2023 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").
- 15.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 16.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9, version 2, point precipitation frequency estimates (partial-duration series) at St. Petersburg, 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)).
- 17.NOAA Atlas 14 at St. Petersburg: 10.1 in/hr (5-minute, 10-year). NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation Frequency Data Server. Read Oct 5, 2026.
South Fork Roofing
Gutters in St. Petersburg
Answer a few questions about the job, or call.