Wilmington

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for New Hanover County, the county that contains Wilmington.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in New Hanover County, the county that contains Wilmington.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in New Hanover County.

Other tide gauges here: Wrightsville Beach (record 23 days, 2023).

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for New Hanover County, the county that contains Wilmington.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2018Hurricane (Typhoon), Inland New Hanover$1.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large tree fell through the roof of a home at Nantucket Pointe. There was significant damage to the house. Multiple large trees in the road in Murrayville, with power lines down as well. A Scotchman gas station on 23rd had a pump station knocked down with awning damage. Multiple trees down on Independence Rd and River Rd. A garage was blown in on S Kerr Ave. Large trees were reported down throughout the town of Wilmington and Hampstead. A 105 mph was recorded at the Wilmington International Airport. A structural fire due to storm damage on Bay Blossom Rd. An injury occurred when a tree fell on a house on Mercer Ave.

2. Sep 5, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of the eye of Hurricane Fran, about 25 miles across, passed up the Cape Fear River during the evening... with winds gusting around 110 mph, storm surge 12 feet MSL, and 40 ft beach erosion destroying most docks and piers. County infrastructure suffered $5 million damage. Schools had $2 million damage. Power outages exceeded 1 week in some areas. Pleasure Island was hard hit, as 25 homes were carried off foundations and many others badly damaged. Wrightsville Beach was not hit as hard, but 15 homes were at least 75% damaged. In Wilmington, 14 homes were destroyed and 385 homes suffered major damage. The 197 foot tall steeple of 130-year-old First Baptist Church fell.…

3. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$37.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd, with wind gusts around 90 mph caused widespread downed trees and power outages. In Brunswick County, power was out to 95% of the county. The wind did major damage to the roof of Brunswick Community Hospital. Storm surge was 7 to 9 feet on the east side of the county and 3 to 6 feet further west. Ocean Crest Pier, Long Beach Pier and Sunset Beach Pier were hard hit. Ocean overwash was worst at Oak Island, where 4 miles with 100 oceanfront homes sustained $23 million damage. Holden Beach sustained $8.8 million damage, where 46 homes were condemned, many due to exposed septic tanks. Ocean Isle Beach suffered $6 million damage, where 2 homes were knocked off…

4. Aug 26, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$26.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The eye of slow-moving Hurricane Bonnie made landfall at Cape Fear during the late afternon and moved up thecoast, with the stronger east side of the storm remaining offshore. Wind gusts were generally around 100 MPH along the coast and lighter inland.At the airport, gusts reached 74 MPH. Rainfall amounts were around 10 inches, causing ponding of water and flooding across the north end of the county around Castle Hayne. Storm surge was 7 to 9 feet, with most barrier island overwash from the sound side, not the ocean side. Federal Disaster declared.

5. Jul 12, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The eye of Bertha moved north on the coast between 2-4PM EST, with the strongest winds gusting from NE at 92 MPH at Kure Beach at 1:35, where 3 roofs blown off and all structures damaged. Four piers seriously damaged, and 2 ft of water covered Carolina Beach. Wrightsville Beach and Figure 8 Island little damage. From the beaches, mandatory evacuation of 40,000. Damage to New Hanover County Regional Medical Center was $2M. 1500 homes and 250 businesses were damaged. Raw sewage escaped to Burnt Mill Creek. Declared Federal Disaster Area.

6. Sep 14, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$3.6 million
7. Aug 14, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), New Hanover$3.0 million
8. Sep 16, 2018Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Gordon road impassable due to flooding. Middle Sound Loop washed out the the Anchors Bend Marina. High water reported at Holly Shelter Road and Blue Clay. Wood Sorrell Rd closed due to flooding. In Wilmington, 16th St had collapsed at Greenfield St. Road closed. A business was washed out at 12th and Market St. Kerr Ave was washed out at Bavarian Lane. The ramps at the interchange of I-40 and I-140 were flooded and impassable. A sink hole four feet deep was reported at the intersection of Red Cedar Rd and Hawk Rd.

9. Oct 7, 2005Heavy Rain$1.5 million
10. Aug 26, 2011Tropical Storm, Coastal New Hanover$1.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Even though the center of Hurricane Irene passed over 100 miles east of the coast of southeastern North Carolina, its large windfield produced tropical storm force winds for nearly 24 hours as it made its landfall near Cape Lookout. The highest recorded wind gust at the Wilmington International Airport was 57 kts on the backside of the storm the morning of the August 27th. A 61 kt gust was recorded at the Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach. Rainfall amounts across the county ranged from six to seven inches, with moderate street flooding reported. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, leading to 62,000 homes without power. Storm surge ranged from three to four feet…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°FJun 27, 1952

All-time low

0°FDec 25, 1989

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Aug 9, 2007

Coldest day

20°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

13.38 inSep 15, 1999

Snowiest day

9.6 inDec 23, 1989

Hottest year

1990mean 66.5°F

Coldest year

1981mean 61.0°F

Wettest year

2018102.40 in

Driest year

200733.35 in

Snowiest season

15.3 in1989-90

Station Wilmington International Airport (USW00013748), 23 ft elevation, 4.1 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for New Hanover County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013748.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.