Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Grifton, NC

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kinston Ag Rsch, NC, 10 miles southwest of Grifton at 60 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 56°F and 35°F. September is the wettest at 6.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 52.8 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 59% of the year's precipitation (31.4 of 52.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 107 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (40); a normal September there has highs of 84°F and 6.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 62 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 45 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.7 inches a year, most of it in January and December. That 52.8 inches is more than at 93 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (66%). Ayden, 6 miles north, has its own station (Greenville, NC): 53.5 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 79 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Grifton: 64 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 flood. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $255,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on May 23, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 8 of 11. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 147 have had fewer than Grifton.

Flood insurance policyholders in Grifton's ZIP code 28530 have filed 172 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $6.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Floyd in 1999: 62 claims (36% of all) and $3.1 million, then Hurricane Matthew in 2016 with 50 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 with 24. 92% 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, 201 have fewer than Grifton.