Hurricanes that hit Johnston County, North Carolina: hurricane history

55 storms have passed within 50 km of Johnston County from 1851 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 Johnston County

The record holds 55 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Johnston County, North Carolina between 1851 and 2025. The busiest month is September, with 22 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 3 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 55storms within 50 km
  • 3major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 10at 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 Johnston County?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression1018%
Tropical storm3258%
Category 1611%
Category 212%
Category 324%
Category 412%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity35%

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

Johnston County storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 6 in 1880s.1850s1870s1890s1910s1930s1950s1970s1990s2010s

The 2020s only run to 2025, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1851, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1850s3
1860s3
1870s2
1880s6
1890s4
1900s2
1910s3
1920s1
1930s1
1940s2
1950s3
1960s4
1970s5
1980s2
1990s3
2000s4
2010s3
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 22 in Sep.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May3Jun6Jul7Aug7Sep22Oct10Nov0Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May3
Jun6
Jul7
Aug7
Sep22
Oct10
Nov0
Dec0

Strongest storms near Johnston County

  • Hazel (1954)5 October 1954 to 18 October 1954, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 938 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
  • Unnamed storm of September 1896 (North Atlantic)22 September 1896 to 30 September 1896, Category 2 (85 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 960 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1881 (North Atlantic)3 September 1881 to 11 September 1881, Category 1 (80 kt) near here, peak Category 2 (90 kt), 975 hPa

Most recent storms near Johnston County

  • Chantal (2025)4 July 2025 to 7 July 2025, Tropical depression (25 kt) near here, peak Tropical storm (50 kt), 1,002 hPa
  • Elsa (2021)30 June 2021 to 10 July 2021, Tropical storm (45 kt) near here, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 991 hPa
  • Claudette (2021)17 June 2021 to 23 June 2021, peak Tropical storm (40 kt), 1,003 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 Johnston County

  • 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
  • Ginger (1971)6 September 1971 to 6 October 1971, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 959 hPa
  • Isbell (1964)9 October 1964 to 16 October 1964, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 964 hPa

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