Chowan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Chowan County: 1.
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.

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.

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

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.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Chowan$7.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Isabel was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with frequent gusts to hurricane force occurred over coastal northeast North Carolina. Isabel made landfall near Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina, tracked northwest into central Virginia just west of Richmond, then continued northward into western Pennsylvania. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 73 mph at Duck (DUCN7). Other sustained wind speed was 59 mph at Elizabeth City (ECG). The highest gusts recorded were 97 mph at Elizabeth City (from Clemson University observation site in Elizabeth City), 92 mph at Duck (DUCN7), and 74 mph at…

2. Aug 26, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Chowan$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Bonnie moved along the coast of northeast North Carolina on August 27th. Very strong winds and heavy rains associated with Bonnie's spiral bands hammered northeast North Carolina Thursday afternoon into early Friday morning. The highest sustained wind speed recorded at the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Station (ECG) was 59 mph with gusts to 73 mph. The Currituck county EOC reported a gust to 93 mph. Numerous trees and power lines blown down resulted in scattered property damage and widespread power outages. A 12 year old girl was killed when a large tree fell on her home. Coastal Pasquotank and Camden counties in North Carolina experienced approximately a 6 foot surge in…

3. Oct 8, 2016Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused an extended period of significant flooding across much of the county. Numerous roads were impassable or closed for several days, and many homes and businesses were impacted.

4. Apr 25, 2014Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started just south of Edenton and tracked northeast to near Burnt Mill Road near the Chowan/Perquimans county line. Numerous trees were downed or snapped off. Houses were damaged or destroyed on Yeopim Road. An 11-month-old boy died two days after being injured during the tornado. One injury was also reported. The tornado then tracked northeast into Perquimans county from Chowan county.

5. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Chowan$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm winds downed and uprooted several trees and power lines, produced significant structural damage, and caused power outages across the county. Wind gust of 51 knots (59 mph) was measured at EDE.

6. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Chowan$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds knocked down several trees and power lines, with heavy rains also causing significant crop damage. A peak wind gust of 49 knots (56 mph) was recorded at EDE (Edenton). Storm total rainfall generally ranged from seven to twelve inches.

7. May 11, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   ROOF BLOWN OFF GRAIN ELEVATOR AND TRACTOR TRAILER DESTROYED. ESTIMATED DAMAGE TOTAL $350,000 TO $400,000.

8. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Chowan$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to near hurricane force occurred over the northwest quadrant of the storm over interior portions of northeast North Carolina and along the coastal waters of the Wakefield marine area. The center of the storm crossed the county warning area along an Elizabeth City to Currituck county to Sandbridge Virginia Beach axis. The highest sustained wind speed recorded at the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Station (ECG) was 39 mph with gusts to 64 mph. Two confirmed tornadoes occurred in association with Floyd, both in northeast North Carolina. There…

9. May 5, 2017Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado tracked from Bertie county into Chowan county. In Chowan county, the tornado uprooted trees and caused minor damage to homes from Tynch Town Road and Whites Landing Road northeast to Evans Bass Road and Rocky Hock Landing Road. A barn was severely damaged on Evans Bass Road. The tornado then crossed Rocky Hock Road destroying a barn along with several outbuildings. Another barn was severely damaged and windows were blown in on a nearby house. Numerous large pines were snapped and winds were estimated at 80 mph along Rocky Hock Road.||The tornado continued moving northeast knocking a single wide mobile home off its foundation near Parish Road. More outbuildings were…

10. Jun 11, 1996Heavy Rain$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains caused a portion of an apartment building's interior ceiling to collapse, flooding and damaging six apartments. Thirty-seven elderly and handicapped people were evacuated from their apartments.

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

105°FJul 18, 1942

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

89°FJul 18, 2002

Coldest day

14°FDec 30, 1917

Wettest day

10.81 inAug 27, 2011

Snowiest day

26.0 inMar 1, 1927

Hottest year

1990mean 64.1°F

Coldest year

1904mean 57.9°F

Wettest year

201676.34 in

Driest year

200730.10 in

Snowiest season

35.0 in1926-27

Station Edenton (USC00312635), 10 ft elevation, 8.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 25, 2026; 98.9% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00312635.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, 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.