Pamlico County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 26, 2011Storm Surge/Tide, Pamlico$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds gusted to hurricane force resulting in a 9 to 11 foot sound-side surge across eastern Pamlico County and the Pamlico River with extensive damage to structures.

2. Sep 17, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Pamlico$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Isabel made landfall early in the afternoon on September 18th as a category two hurricane across Core Banks in extreme eastern Carteret county. Isabel moved north northwest near 20 mph across eastern North Carolina during the afternoon. Areas mainly near and east of the storm center experienced significant wind and storm surge effects. Major ocean overwash and beach erosion occurred along the North Carolina Outer Banks where waves up to 20 feet accompanied a 6 to 8 foot storm surge. Almost 350 million dollars in damage occurred in Dare county alone where several thousand homes and businesses, several piers, and sections of Highway 12 were damaged or washed away. Eastern…

3. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Pamlico$29.9 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 10��� to 15��� over the county with a storm total of 14.34��� in Arapahoe. Extremely heavy rainfall across the county initially led to flash flooding. Gusty northeast winds developed ahead of Florence as the storm approached the coast with tropical storm force gusts across the county. The gusty winds combined with saturated ground led to many downed trees with widespread power outages. Significant storm surge flooding occurred along the western shores of the Pamlico Sound. Preliminary storm surge values…

4. Aug 26, 2011Hurricane (Typhoon), Pamlico$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across Pamlico County...winds gusted to hurricane force resulting in trees and power-lines down and extensive power outages. A 9 to 11 foot sound-side surge occurred across eastern Pamlico County and the Pamlico River resulted in extensive damage to structures. Storm total rainfall of 10 to 16 inches caused extensive freshwater flooding. Significant damage occurred to structures and crops.

5. Jul 21, 2010Lightning$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   House struck be lightning and burned in the River Dunes community in Oriental.

6. Sep 4, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Pamlico$3.0 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…

7. Jul 12, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Pamlico$1.0 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.…

8. Sep 15, 1999Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado moved over Hobucken and destroyed a mobile home, a house, tore the roof off of a school and severely damaged two churches.

9. Sep 1, 1999Tropical Storm, Pamlico$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the evening of Tuesday, August 31st old Hurricane Dennis was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. By 0500 EDT Wednesday, September 1st Tropical Storm Dennis was located about 120 miles east of Cape Hatteras. The movement was nearly stationary with maximum sustained winds near 60 mph. By 1700 EDT Thursday, September 2nd the storm began moving slowly south with a position near 95 miles east southeast of Cape Hatteras. This trend continued until 1700 EDT Friday, September 3rd. Tropical Storm Dennis finally begin drifting, slowly west northwest. Landfall occurred on Saturday, September 4th around 1700 along the Core Banks just north of Cape Lookout. The storm then continued very slowly…

10. Jun 3, 1998Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A line of thunderstorms moved across eastern areas of the state producing widespread large hail. Martin county was especially hard hit where much of the tobacco crop was damaged. In Kinston, car dealers reported over a half million dollars worth of damage to vehicles. On Ocracoke Island, the hail was the largest seen in many generations.

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

107°FAug 1, 1999

All-time low

−4°FDec 25, 1989

Warmest night

85°FJun 9, 1999

Coldest day

20°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

9.24 inAug 28, 2011

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 3, 1980

Hottest year

1998mean 65.1°F

Coldest year

1976mean 60.5°F

Wettest year

201881.43 in

Driest year

197836.46 in

Snowiest season

25.0 in1979-80

Station Bayboro 3 Sw (USC00310576), 5 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1968 to October 27, 2026; 97.4% 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 USC00310576.
• 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.