Coastal locations

North Carolina forecasts and tides

3 coastal locations in North Carolina, each with its own forecast, nearest tide station, and storm history.

North Carolina tropical history

Every Atlantic storm since 1851 that tracked within 150 miles of a North Carolina coastal location, from the NOAA best-track archive.

Storms on record
334
Arrived at hurricane strength
103
Major hurricanes, last 50 years
2 of 14 all time
Direct hits
78 centre within 25 mi
Last major hurricane
Fran (1996)

Most recent storms

Storm Year Closest approach Strength at closest Peak strength
Dexter 2025 123 mi Depression Category 1
Chantal 2025 70 mi Tropical Storm Tropical Storm
Debby 2024 123 mi Tropical Storm Category 1
Ophelia Direct hit 2023 21 mi Tropical Storm Tropical Storm
Idalia 2023 65 mi Tropical Storm Category 4
Ian 2022 78 mi Tropical Storm Category 5
Colin 2022 62 mi Depression Tropical Storm
Wanda 2021 122 mi Tropical Storm Tropical Storm
Odette 2021 96 mi Depression Tropical Storm
Elsa 2021 106 mi Tropical Storm Category 1

Hardest-hit stretches of the coast

Storms within 150 miles of each location across the full archive.

  1. Outer Banks 285 storms · 83 hurricanes · 26 direct hits, last in 2016
  2. Morehead City 280 storms · 73 hurricanes · 37 direct hits, last in 2023
  3. Wilmington 259 storms · 62 hurricanes · 27 direct hits, last in 2018