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Reflecting on a Record-Setting, Storm-Soaked September

hurricanes

A photo of small barn in Reidsville with sunny blue skies overhead

Oct 6, 2025

Drought Digs Back in During a Storm-Sapped September

Limited rainfall brought drought back last month, while our temperatures were mostly typical for the first month of fall. Last month had a quiet start but a busy end in the tropics, as we discuss in our hurricane season update. Note: Due to the federal government shutdown, statewide statistics and rankings from the National Centers…
An aerial view of flooding west of Asheville after Hurricane Helene

Sep 25, 2025

One Year After Helene, New Perspectives on Our Worst Storms

The sights and stories that slowly trickled out of western North Carolina last September were so shocking, they were at times hard to believe. Swollen rivers practically wiped out charming mountain towns such as Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, and Swannanoa. The death toll climbed across Buncombe County as search and rescue teams surveyed areas hit…
A photo of a scenic overlook under cloudy skies at Chimney Rock State Park earlier this month

Sep 4, 2025

A Fall-Like Feeling Arrived With Mixed Rainfall in August

Cooler weather made for an unseasonable August, while we started wet and finished the month on a dry note. In this post, we also wrap up the summer and look at the big weather stories awaiting this fall. An Early Chill Interrupts Summer In a sudden shift after a hot end to July, August brought…
A photo of waves crashing into homes in Buxton during Hurricane Erin

Aug 22, 2025

Rapid Reaction: Hurricane Erin a Close Call with Coastal Damage

The first hurricane – and the first major hurricane – of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season passed off our coastline this week, and despite not making a direct landfall, it still had big impacts in parts of eastern North Carolina. Over the warm water in the central Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Erin became a formidable storm,…
A photo of boats piled up at the marina in Southport following Hurricane Isaias

Aug 5, 2025

Isaias’s Coastal Hit a Turning Point for NC Storms, Preparedness

Five years ago, an overactive Atlantic brought an early-season hurricane to North Carolina’s doorstep. Just after 11 pm on August 3, 2020, Hurricane Isaias made landfall as a Category-1 storm near Ocean Isle Beach along our southern coastline. Sneaking in overnight during a year dominated by other big news stories, Isaias and its impacts weren’t…
A photo of cars in deep flood waters at a shopping center in Chapel Hill after Tropical Storm Chantal

Jul 7, 2025

Rapid Reaction: Tropical Storm Chantal Soaks Central North Carolina

The first tropical system of the season to affect North Carolina produced locally heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of the Piedmont and Sandhills. Tropical Storm Chantal wasn’t particularly intense or long-lasting, but it had big impacts in areas such as Alamance, Chatham, Moore, and Orange counties where the heaviest rain occurred. Like many early-season…
A photo of a dozer working on a containment line at the Deep Woods fire in March

Jun 26, 2025

Helene’s Damage Presents Fire Management, Monitoring Challenges

It was an environmental domino effect that was hard to fathom considering huge swaths of western North Carolina had been under water just two months earlier following Hurricane Helene. On December 6 of last year, a wind gust toppled power lines in rural McDowell County. A spark of electricity then carried from the lines onto…
A photo of the sunrise in Newport, NC, on May 18

Jun 3, 2025

Spring Showers in May End a Long-Running Dry Spell

May brought a wetter weather pattern and prevailing above-normal temperatures in North Carolina. With summer now upon us, we also look at outlooks for the Atlantic hurricane season. Rain Returns and Drought Dwindles With multiple rounds of significant rain across the state, May reversed our recent dry trend and brought drought relief in many areas.…
A photo of flooding along Highway 17 in Brunswick County after PTC8

Oct 3, 2024

Reflecting on a Record-Setting, Storm-Soaked September

Due to Hurricane Helene, the National Centers for Environmental Information’s data center in Asheville is currently shut down. Our colleagues at NCEI have confirmed that all of their staff are safe and accounted for in the wake of the storm. Since the preliminary statistics and statewide rankings are unavailable, our monthly climate summary for September…