Weather IQ: Strongest Hurricanes in North Carolina History

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Some of the strongest hurricanes to impact North Carolina happened well before many of us were born. Here are the top 5 strongest based on wind speeds.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Since the 1800s North Carolina has taken dozens of direct hits from hurricanes. With some winds getting up as high as 150 mph. Here are the 5 strongest hurricanes (based on wind speed) in North Carolina history. 

We reached out to Corey Davis, N.C. State University’s Assistant State Climatologist, to go back through over 150 years of data to find the strongest documented storms to date. 

Number 5: Hurricane Fran – September 1996

Hurricane Fran is the only major hurricane to make landfall in North Carolina in the past 60 years. Where a major hurricane is category 3 strength or higher.

It produced maximum sustained winds of 115 mph at landfall in Cape Fear with even stronger gusts. 

It produced a path of destruction all the way from Wilmington to Raleigh. Thousands of trees fell and total damage amounted to $4 Billion (adjusted for inflation). 

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Number 4: Hurricane San Ciriaco (August 1899) 

It gets its name since it first hit Puerto Rico during the Catholic festival of San Ciriaco. It made landfall days later on Ocracoke Island with estimated wind gusts ranging from 120 to 140 mph. This storm knocked out bridges in the outer banks and wrecked ships of the coast adding to the legendary Graveyard of the Atlantic.

The Outer Banks were flooded, bridges were knocked out, and 20 to 25 people died in the state, including 14 fishermen whose boats capsized while returning to the mainland.

Number 3: The Great Beaufort Hurricane August 1879 

This category 3 storm snuck up on the North Carolinas Crystal Coast since they didn’t have the technology we have today. The eyes landfall in Beaufort, NC even caught the governor off guard and they had to take emergency refuge at the Atlantic Hotel in Beaufort. Wind gusts reached at least 138 mph at Cape Lookout before the anemometer was blown away. 

Interesting note: The modern day cup anemometer first was invented in 1846 and gave reliable wind measurements, but the mounting hardware in these days was subpar.

Number 2: Hurricane Helene – September 1958 

Hurricane Helene could have been number one but the strongest winds around the eye narrowly missed the coast by just 20 miles. 

Those immediate coastal areas still felt the brunt of the storm. The National Weather Service office in Wilmington recorded a gust of 135 mph, and the Coast Guard station at Cape Lookout measured a 144-mph gust. Those winds toppled trees and damaged homes, but the extent of the damage could have been much worse had Helene’s track shifted a few dozen miles to the west.

Number 1: Hurricane Hazel – October 1954 

Hurricane Hazel wins the top spot for the strongest known landfalling hurricane in North Carolina history. Hazels eye came ashore on the North Carolina and South Carolina border creating devastating damage. Wind gusts were estimated up to 150 mph and the US Weather Bureau reported that  “all traces of civilization on that portion of the immediate waterfront between the state line and Cape Fear were practically annihilated.”

Hitting at the same time as the high tide, Hazel’s storm surge was up to 18 feet high in Calabash.  

Hurricane-force wind gusts were recorded in Raleigh and Fayetteville, and an estimated one-third of all buildings east of Charlotte were damaged. 

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North Carolina has never had a category 5 hurricane make landfall, and lets hope it never does.