The film was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante with Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, and Mark McGrath reprising their roles from the previous installments.

Also joining the cast are David Hasselhoff, Bo Derek, Ryan Newman (replacing Aubrey Peeples in the role of Claudia Shepard, from the first film), and Jack Griffo.

In Washington, D.C., Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) attends an awards ceremony at the White House, where he is given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the President for his heroic actions during the 2013 and 2014 sharknadoes.

When a tropical depression approaches D.C, a sharknado forms and attacks and destroys the nation's capital, killing the Mayor of New York City, White House Chief of Staff, and multiple Secret Service agents.

Worried that his pregnant wife April (Tara Reid), who is attending Universal Orlando Resort with their daughter Claudia (Ryan Newman) and her mother May (Bo Derek), is in danger, Fin drives down the East Coast in order to reach Florida.

Nova and Fin destroy a sharknado approaching the Daytona International Speedway during the Coke Zero 400, causing their jet to crash land in the resort at Universal.

Fin, April, Nova, Claudia, Billy and May take shelter in the Universal Studios Globe at the entrance of the resort, which is carried away by a sharknado, injuring May.

The group reaches a NASA facility outside Cape Canaveral, where they plan to dissipate the storm by using a top-secret Space Shuttle to blow up large tanks of rocket fuel inside it.

Colonel Shepard deploys "Plan B", activating a Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative satellite laser weapon, stranding himself in space since there is not enough fuel to propel all of them back to Earth.

As April recovers Fin's United States Astronaut Badge, a piece of the shuttle debris falls back down to Earth, seemingly crushing her to death.

Sharknado 3 was filmed on location at Universal Orlando, São Paulo Brazil, Northern New Jersey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.

A promotional trailer reveals that Ziering also makes an appearance as Fin Shepard in Lavalantula, which debuted on July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3's Wednesday premiere.