Onslow County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Onslow County: 3.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 4, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$500 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…

2. Jul 12, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$73.0 million
   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.…

3. Sep 13, 2018Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$34.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A first ever, county wide mandatory evacuation was issued prior to Florence. 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 20��� to 30��� over the county with a storm total of 34.15��� in Swansboro. Extremely heavy rainfall across the county initially lead to flash flooding with numerous roads that were impassable. Extreme rainfall in the upper reaches of the New River in central and northern Onslow County led to devastating flooding near the river as hundreds of homes became inundated soon after the rain fell. Record flooding along the New River…

4. Sep 14, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$13.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd caused the largest peace time evacuation in the nations history. He also caused massive record flooding across inland sections of eastern North Carolina. At one time Floyd was classified as a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir/Simpson scale and will likely be categorized as one of the nation's most costly hurricanes in the 20th century.Tropical Depression number eight was detected by the National Hurricane Center at 1600 EST on September 7th. The broad center was nearly 1000 miles west of the Lesser Antilles. At that time the depression was moving toward the west at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph. Within 12 hours the depression gained strength,…

5. Aug 26, 2011Tropical Storm, Onslow$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across Onslow County...winds of 50 to 60 mph resulted in numerous tress and power lines down with minor structural damage and extensive power outages. The Highest storm surge was 5.5 feet at North Topsail beach. Other Locations receiving a 2 to 3 foot storm surge were Sneads Ferry and Swansboro. Storm total rainfall of 7 to 12 inches resulted in Flooding of streets and low lying areas. One man died from a heart attack while boarding up prior to the hurricane. Significant damage occurred to structures and crops.

6. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$9.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado spun up near Tarawa Terrace and quickly increased to EF2 intensity with winds to 125 mph and a damage width of 100 yards. Many residences were damaged severely. The tornado continued to track northeast and crossed Highway 24 and the Holiday City Subdivision at EF2 intensity with many homes severely damaged. The tornado widened to about 450 yards as it crossed the Colonial Heights Subdivision with winds around 100 mph. The tornado narrowed to about 100 yards and increased to EF3 intensity with winds to 145 mph as it crossed Piney Green Road and impacted the Montclair Subdivision. Severe damage to many homes with some totally destroyed. Several vehicles were picked up and…

7. Sep 13, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$8.5 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,…

8. Aug 26, 2011Storm Surge/Tide, Onslow$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds of 50 to 60 mph resulted in a storm surge of 5.5 feet at North Topsail beach. Sneads Ferry and Swansboro had a storm surge of 2 to 3 feet.

9. Aug 14, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Onslow$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Charley moved northeast across the Coastal Plains of Eastern North Carolina during the afternoon hours on August 14th. Onslow county received the most damage, with estimates over 5 million dollars, as winds gusted to near hurricane force toppling trees and power lines with structural damage to homes and businesses. Winds gusted from 60-70 mph across Inland areas near the center of the storm resulting in wind damage to structures, and damage to crops reaching into the millions. Winds gusted from 40 to 50 mph across locations across Eastern North Carolina with minor wind damage reported. Storm surge values were highest along the Onslow County coastline where a 2 to 3…

10. Apr 15, 1999Tornado$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Another tornado on the evening of April 15, 1999 caused havoc in Onslow county. The tornado touched down about a mile south of Richlands and tracked across Highway 258 and disipated in the Hofmann Forest. Most of the damage was reported in the Richlands Township where nine dwellings were destroyed while fifteen others suffered minor damage. Seven people were treated for injuries.

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

102°F2 times, most recently Jul 30, 2011

All-time low

−5°FDec 25, 1989

Warmest night

83°FAug 18, 1955

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

8.44 inSep 15, 2018

Snowiest day

19.1 inMar 2, 1980

Hottest year

1990mean 66.1°F

Coldest year

1978mean 60.2°F

Wettest year

201884.17 in

Driest year

200726.19 in

Station New Rvr Mcaf (USW00093727), 26 ft elevation, 2.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1955 to June 25, 2026; 86.8% 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 USW00093727.
• 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.