Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Princeton, NC

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Smithfield, NC, 11 miles west of Princeton at 150 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 54°F and 31°F. July and September are the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (27.5 of 49.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 84 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (36); a normal September there has highs of 84°F and 5.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 53 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 76 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.8 inches a year, most of it in December. That 49.5 inches is more than at 60 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (43%). Kenly, 10 miles north, has its own station (Wilson 3 SW, NC): 50.4 inches a year, 0.9 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 92°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 131 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Princeton: 96 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 flash floods, 9 heavy rain events and 1 flood. They killed 3 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $146.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on August 10, 2007. September has had the most flash floods, 7 of 25. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 340 have had fewer than Princeton.

Flood insurance policyholders in Princeton's ZIP code 27569 have filed 39 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1995, and were paid $966,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Matthew in 2016: 16 claims (41% of all) and $534,000, then Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 10. 87% 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, 110 have fewer than Princeton.