Currituck County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Currituck County: 0.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 12, 2009Coastal Flood, Eastern Currituck$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The peak tide height at Duck was 7.20 feet above MLLW, which was 3.22 feet above the astronomical tide. Numerous streets, homes and businesses were flooded in low lying areas of the county close or directly exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, especially in the Corolla and Carova Beach areas. There was also severe beach erosion and loss of protective dunes.

2. Aug 26, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Western Currituck$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. Sep 5, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Eastern Currituck$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spiral bands associated with Hurricane Fran affected northeast North Carolina from Thursday evening, September 5th, through Friday morning, September 6th. The highest sustained wind speed recorded at the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Station (ECG) was 43 mph with the highest gust at 55 mph. There were no confirmed tornadoes, but numerous trees and power lines were blown down across northeast North Carolina resulting in some structural damage and power outages. Coastal Pasquotank and Camden counties experienced approximately a 6 foot storm surge in the Albemarle Sound flooding coastal sections of these counties including the business district of downtown Elizabeth City. Chowan county…

4. Nov 12, 2009Coastal Flood, Western Currituck$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several streets, homes and businesses were flooded in low lying areas of the county close or directly exposed to the Currituck Sound. Moyock experienced the heaviest flooding due to rising Sound waters. Moyock area had 3 neighborhoods that flooded, and flood water going into some of the homes.

5. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Western Currituck$700,000
   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…

6. Aug 27, 2011Hurricane (Typhoon), Western Currituck$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds and Hurricane force wind gusts knocked down numerous trees and power lines, as well as caused some structural damage. In addition, heavy rains contributed to minor crop damage. A 3 to 4 foot surge was observed on the eastern shore of the county adjacent to the Currituck Sound. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from four to eight inches.

7. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Eastern Currituck$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 gusts averaged between 50 and 60 knots.

8. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Western Currituck$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 48 knots (55 mph) was measured at (1.6 NW) Moyock.

9. 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.

10. Aug 27, 2011Hurricane (Typhoon), Eastern Currituck$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tropical storm force winds and Hurricane force wind gusts knocked down numerous trees and power lines, as well as caused some structural damage. The highest sustained wind of 58 knots (67 mph) with a peak gust of 69 knots (79 mph) was recorded at Duck Pier North Carolina. Coastal storm tides of 1.5 to 2 feet above astronomical tide levels were common, with a 2 to 4 foot surge observed on the soundside portion. The tide level at Duck reached 5.22 feet MLLW. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from three to six inches.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 1952

All-time low

2°FJan 7, 2018

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 2012

Coldest day

21°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

8.52 inSep 5, 1979

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 2, 1980

Hottest year

2012mean 64.6°F

Coldest year

1958mean 58.7°F

Wettest year

201863.95 in

Driest year

200725.58 in

Snowiest season

39.0 in1979-80

Station Elizabeth City Cgas (USW00013786), 6 ft elevation, 13.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 95.1% 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 USW00013786.
• 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.