NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cornelius, 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
25 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Cornelius, North Carolina since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Debby in 2024. Since 1950, 96 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 24
- Tornadoes
- 96
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Cornelius
The strongest storm to pass near Cornelius was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds when its centre passed 23 miles away. The record near Cornelius begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Debby in 2024, a tropical storm 69 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 5 systems. Of the 25 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site, 65% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Cornelius. The strongest of the 96 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on March 27, 1994; its path came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on January 9, 2024, killed 1 person. Of the 96, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on May 3, 2025. Cornelius has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 89% of the 475 North Carolina cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 130 times since 1978, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Cornelius has more hail reports within 10 miles than 92% of the 475 North Carolina cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cornelius
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DebbyAug 8 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ClaudetteJun 21 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | BobJul 25 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleAug 31 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1927 | Unnamed 1927 stormOct 3 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 28 | 23 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 10 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 12 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Cornelius: 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 Cornelius
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s14
- 2000s16
- 1990s15(1 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s19
- 1960s8
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 1994 | F3 | 18 mi | 18.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Feb 6, 2020 | EF2 | 19 mi | 6.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 2017 | EF2 | 23 mi | 3.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 3, 2012 | EF2 | 19 mi | 2.94 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Oct 26, 2010 | EF2 | 21 mi | 2.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2008 | EF2 | 11 mi | 18.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 15, 2006 | F2 | 11 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1994 | F2 | 20 mi | 45.4 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Mar 10, 1992 | F2 | 23 mi | 3.4 mi | 0 / 18 |
| May 28, 1973 | F2 | 12 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1968 | F2 | 21 mi | 16.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 12, 1965 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 96, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cornelius
The Storm Prediction Center has 130 hail reports within 10 miles of Cornelius since 1978, made on 88 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 7, 1998. The most recent report is from June 26, 2023. May has the most reports, 48.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cornelius
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Charlotte Douglas Airport, NC, 18 miles south of Cornelius at 728 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 32°F. August is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 43.7 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 51% of the year's precipitation (22.3 of 43.7 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 25 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 83°F and 3.7 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 58 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 43.7 inches is more than at 9 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (6%). Davidson, 4 miles east, has its own station (Concord, NC): 47.8 inches a year, 4.1 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 32 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.6 |
| Feb | 57 | 35 | 3.1 | 6 | 1.1 |
| Mar | 64 | 41 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Apr | 73 | 49 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 58 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 66 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 70 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 69 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 63 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 50 | 3.2 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 63 | 40 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 55 | 35 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Year | 72 | 51 | 43.7 | 73 | 3.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Charlotte Douglas Airport, NC (728 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 Cornelius
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 171 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cornelius: 148 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 9 lightning strikes and 4 floods. They killed 2 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $4.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 4, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 3 of 10. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 124 have had fewer than Cornelius.
June 20, 2015: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Cornelius — 1 killed.
July 5, 2020: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Cornelius — 1 killed.
May 2, 2003: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Cornelius — 3 injured, $25,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Cornelius's ZIP code 28031 have filed 21 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1989, and were paid $178,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 24% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 263 North Carolina cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 67 have fewer than Cornelius.
Mecklenburg County, which includes Cornelius, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 3 tropical storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene, on September 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mecklenburg County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $318.0 million a year, the highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $256.4 million (81%), 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.
Cities near Cornelius
- Davidson, NC4 mi
- Huntersville, NC5 mi
- Denver, NC6 mi
- Mooresville, NC7 mi
- Sherrills Ford, NC10 mi
- Stanley, NC12 mi
- Iron Station, NC13 mi
- Mount Holly, NC14 mi
- Troutman, NC14 mi
- Kannapolis, NC15 mi
- Harrisburg, NC16 mi
- Landis, NC16 mi
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