Duplin County

Every recorded tornado

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

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Duplin$98.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rain and strong winds developed over the region from the morning of September 13th through the morning of September 16th. Rainfall was generally 16��� to 20��� over the county with a storm total of 26.26��� 1 mile west-northwest of Albertson and 19.98��� in Mount Olive. Extremely heavy rainfall across the county initially lead to flash flooding and numerous road washouts. This quickly transitioned to river flooding as the Northeast Cape Fear River rose rapidly, flooding countless roadways and homes along and far away from the river with numerous tributary streams flooding as well. Portions of interstate 40 were closed near Wallace due to…

2. Sep 4, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Duplin$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Fran moved onshore near Cape Fear Thursday evening (9/6) and raced north toward Raleigh cutting a swath of destruction. The Category 3 hurricane destroyed or damaged 90% of the homes in North Topsail Beach. The town hall and police station were destroyed. A 15 foot storm surge cut a 100-foot-wide inlet through thye middle of the island. A Camp Lejeune-based Marine lost his life when he and two others mistakenly drove onto the island at the height of the storm. State Route 1568 was washed out and NC210 was covered with sand. Damage in North Topsail and Onslow County alone exceeds $500 million as 6,688 structures were destroyed or damaged. In Carteret County, Emerald Isle…

3. Aug 26, 2011Tropical Storm, Duplin$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across Duplin County...winds gusting as high as 60 mph resulting in downed trees and power lines with power outages. Storm total rainfall resulted in flooding of roads and low lying areas. Minor flooding occurred on the northeast Cape Fear River at Chinquapin. Significant damage occurred to structures and crops.

4. Sep 13, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Duplin$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Category one Hurricane Ophelia, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, approached the North Carolina coast on the 13th. The hurricane remained offshore brushing the southern coastal counties of Onslow and Carteret on the 14th and 15th. Highest winds and damages occurred across this area where winds gusted to near 100 mph, and storm surges of up to 6 feet resulted in structural damages totaling near 35 million dollars. The highest surge was reported along the lower reaches of the Neuse River in southern Craven County where water levels rose to 8 feet, during the night of the 14th. Ophelia brushed by Outer Banks Hyde and Dare counties on the 16th with hurricane force wind gusts,…

5. Apr 15, 1999Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the night of April 15, 1999 several tornadoes touched down. One multi-vortex tornado touched down in Duplin County about a half mile south of Kenansville. The tornado tracked east northeast between Pink Hill and Beulaville and just to the north of Potters HIll before entering Jones County. Once in Jones County the tornado passed just north of Hargetts crossroads and traced north of Route 41... ending near the intersection of Routes 58 and 41. The tornado track covered nearly 30 miles and ranged between a half mile to around one mile wide. An unconfirmed wind report of 165 mph was measured near Trenton. In total... hundreds of trees were knocked down, over 30 homes were…

6. Jun 18, 1996Tropical Storm, Duplin$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Arthur teased the North Carolina coast moving parallel to the coast and then up across Cape Lookout into the Pamlico Sound where it was downgraded to a tropical depression. Up to 4 inches of rain fell across parts of southern Lenoir and northern Duplin counties. Much of the rest of the area received between three quarters and two inches of rain. Surf was running at 5-7 feet off Carteret County. There was some damage to crops

7. Jul 12, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Duplin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Bertha slammed into the North Carolina coastline between Surf City and North Topsail Beach causing severe damage to property, utilities and roads. Hardest hit were agricultural crops which suffered losses in excess of $126 million. Heaviest damage was in Topsail Beach and all of Onslow County up the coast to Emerald Isle in Carteret County. In Onslow alone, 199 structures were destroyed (117 were mobile homes). An 8-10 foot storm surge struck Swansboro and Emerald Isle. Several businesses were flooded. Water flowed through the streets of Belhaven in Beaufort County where the surge was around 7 feet. In New Bern, numerous boats were sunk or damaged at 3 private marinas.…

8. May 28, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$465,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms producing winds of 80 mph moved across northwestern Duplin county. Roofs were blown off of 2 residences and 2 turkey houses were destroyed by the high wind near NC 43 in Calypso. Trees and power lines were knocked down in Faison and Bowdens.

9. Apr 15, 1996Tornado$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eyewitnesses saw a tornado as it destroyed 3 hog houses on NC11 south of Kenansville. Travelled NE downing trees which blocked the highway and struck another hog farm about a mile away destroying 4 hog buildings.

10. Mar 8, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A line of severe thunderstorms moved through much of North Carolina during the morning and early afternoon hours of March 8th. In general, Eastern North Carolina experienced straight-line wind gusts from 50 to 90 mph. A wind gust of 110 mph was recorded at Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of Dare County where significant structural damage occurred, including the destruction of a communications tower. Sporadic to widespread wind damage occurred across the entire area with numerous trees and power lines down, and minor to significant structural damage. There was one injury in Hyde County when a mobile home was overturned and demolished by the fierce winds.

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°FAug 22, 1983

All-time low

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 9, 2007

Coldest day

18°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

10.50 inSep 15, 2018

Snowiest day

10.0 inDec 24, 1989

Hottest year

1990mean 63.8°F

Coldest year

1988mean 59.5°F

Wettest year

201870.31 in

Driest year

202232.76 in

Snowiest season

16.0 in1979-80

Station Clinton 2 Ne (USC00311881), 158 ft elevation, 20.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1971 to October 26, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00311881.
• 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.