NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Coats, NC
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
69 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Coats, North Carolina since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ian in 2022. Since 1950, 74 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 7
- Tropical storms
- 62
- Tornadoes
- 74
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
13 deaths in all
What the records show for Coats
The strongest storm to pass near Coats was Hazel in 1954, a Category 2 hurricane with 104 mph winds when its centre passed 16 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1899, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Coats begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ian in 2022, a tropical storm 57 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 8 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 69 systems, 12 have come since 2000. Coats has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 60% of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site. The highest rating among the 74 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 16, 2011, came within 20 miles. Of the 74, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on May 4, 2025. Coats has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 475 North Carolina cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 90 times since 1982, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Coats has more hail reports within 10 miles than 76% of the 475 North Carolina cities.
Compare Coats's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Coats
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | IanOct 1 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 8 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ClaudetteJun 21 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2019 | NestorOct 20 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2013 | AndreaJun 7 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 1 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | AlbertoJun 14 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2004 | CharleyAug 14 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2000 | HeleneSep 23 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1999 | DennisSep 5 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1998 | EarlSep 4 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1996 | JosephineOct 8 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1996 | FranSep 6 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 66 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | AllisonJun 6 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1984 | DianaSep 14 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 21 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | GingerOct 1 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1970 | AlmaMay 26 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 16 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1964 | IsbellOct 16 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | CindyJul 10 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1956 | FlossySep 27 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 17 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 16 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 25 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormOct 20 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1935 | Unnamed 1935 stormSep 6 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 19 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1920 | Unnamed 1920 stormSep 23 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormSep 6 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 16 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1913 | Unnamed 1913 stormSep 3 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 14 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormOct 31 | 2 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 29 | 36 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 9 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 13 | 7 mi | Category 1 (90 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 4 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormJun 16 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 10 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJul 2 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1883 | Unnamed 1883 stormSep 12 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormSep 9 | 65 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 12 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 4 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 17 | 70 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 25 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1867 | Unnamed 1867 stormJun 23 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormSep 1 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1854 | Unnamed 1854 stormSep 9 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormOct 10 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormAug 25 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Coats: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Coats
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s12(2 EF3+)
- 2000s21
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s6
- 1970s8(1 EF3+)
- 1960s6
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2011 | EF3 | 20 mi | 65.23 mi | 6 / 103 |
| Apr 16, 2011 | EF3 | 6 mi | 52.86 mi | 2 / 176 |
| Feb 22, 1971 | F3 | 13 mi | 85.7 mi | 2 / 60 |
| Nov 23, 1992 | F3 | 4 mi | 160 mi | 0 / 44 |
| Sep 29, 1963 | F2 | 20 mi | 85.8 mi | 3 / 12 |
| Mar 20, 1998 | F2 | 22 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Sep 16, 1996 | F2 | 14 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 5, 1971 | F2 | 18 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 2, 1966 | F2 | 7 mi | 64.5 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Sep 29, 1963 | F2 | 23 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 1956 | F2 | 13 mi | 14.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 74, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Coats
The Storm Prediction Center has 90 hail reports within 10 miles of Coats since 1982, made on 65 separate days. Of these, 58 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 5, 1997. The most recent report is from June 26, 2023. May has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Coats
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Dunn 4 NW, NC, 6 miles south of Coats at 200 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 55°F and 32°F. July is the wettest at 5.9 inches of precipitation on average and February and October the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 50.2 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (28.7 of 50.2 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 69 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (29); a normal September there has highs of 85°F and 5.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 49 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 67 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.2 inches is more than at 69 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (49%). Willow Spring, 10 miles north, has its own station (Raleigh 4 SW, NC): 50.6 inches a year, 0.4 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 32 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Feb | 58 | 34 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Mar | 66 | 40 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Apr | 75 | 49 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 58 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 67 | 5.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 71 | 5.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 69 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 63 | 5.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 51 | 3.2 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 66 | 40 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 58 | 35 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Year | 74 | 51 | 50.2 | 75 | 2.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Dunn 4 NW, NC (200 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Coats
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 195 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Coats: 160 thunderstorm wind reports, 23 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events, 3 lightning strikes and 2 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $50.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 71 mph, on May 18, 2006. August has had the most flash floods, 9 of 23. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 319 have had fewer than Coats.
May 26, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Coats — 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
September 8, 2023: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Coats — 1 injured, $15,000 damage.
September 17, 2018: flood 8 miles from the centre of Coats — $25.0 million damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Harnett County, which includes Coats, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 25, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Harnett County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.3 million a year, the 35th highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $16.7 million (45%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.