Hurricanes that hit Brunswick County, North Carolina: hurricane history

82 storms have passed within 50 km of Brunswick County from 1852 to 2025, coloured by intensity on the map.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Brunswick County

The record holds 82 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Brunswick County, North Carolina between 1852 and 2025. The busiest month is September, with 30 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 2 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 82storms within 50 km
  • 6major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 34at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Brunswick County?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression79%
Tropical storm3948%
Category 11620%
Category 21215%
Category 334%
Category 434%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity22%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

Brunswick County storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 7 in 1870s.1850s1870s1890s1910s1940s1960s1980s2000s2020s

The 2020s only run to 2025, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1852, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1850s3
1860s2
1870s7
1880s5
1890s6
1900s5
1910s4
1920s3
1940s4
1950s5
1960s5
1970s5
1980s5
1990s5
2000s7
2010s7
2020s4

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 30 in Sep.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May3Jun11Jul9Aug14Sep30Oct13Nov2Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May3
Jun11
Jul9
Aug14
Sep30
Oct13
Nov2
Dec0

Strongest storms near Brunswick County

  • Helene (1958)21 September 1958 to 4 October 1958, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 933 hPa
  • Hazel (1954)5 October 1954 to 18 October 1954, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 938 hPa
  • Diana (1984)8 September 1984 to 16 September 1984, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 949 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1893 (North Atlantic)25 September 1893 to 15 October 1893, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 955 hPa
  • Fran (1996)23 August 1996 to 10 September 1996, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 946 hPa

Most recent storms near Brunswick County

  • Chantal (2025)4 July 2025 to 7 July 2025, peak Tropical storm (50 kt), 1,002 hPa
  • Idalia (2023)26 August 2023 to 8 September 2023, Tropical storm (50 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 945 hPa
  • Colin (2022)1 July 2022 to 2 July 2022, peak Tropical storm (35 kt), 1,011 hPa

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

A storm that came near several counties counts in each one, so county counts add up to more than the state's.

Notable storms near Brunswick County

  • Dorian (2019)24 August 2019 to 9 September 2019, peak Category 5 (160 kt), 910 hPa
  • Matthew (2016)28 September 2016 to 10 October 2016, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 934 hPa
  • Floyd (1999)7 September 1999 to 19 September 1999, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 921 hPa
  • Florence (2018)30 August 2018 to 18 September 2018, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 937 hPa
  • Charley (2004)9 August 2004 to 15 August 2004, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 947 hPa
  • Donna (1960)29 August 1960 to 14 September 1960, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 930 hPa
  • Helene (1958)21 September 1958 to 4 October 1958, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 933 hPa
  • Diana (1984)8 September 1984 to 16 September 1984, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 949 hPa
  • Hazel (1954)5 October 1954 to 18 October 1954, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 938 hPa
  • Fran (1996)23 August 1996 to 10 September 1996, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 946 hPa
  • Bertha (1996)5 July 1996 to 17 July 1996, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 960 hPa
  • Bonnie (1998)19 August 1998 to 31 August 1998, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 954 hPa

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