NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Richfield, 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
37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Richfield, North Carolina since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Debby in 2024. Since 1950, 56 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 34
- Tornadoes
- 56
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Richfield
The strongest storm to pass near Richfield was an unnamed storm in 1896, a Category 1 hurricane with 83 mph winds when its centre passed 48 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 9 miles. The record near Richfield begins with an unnamed storm in 1854; the most recent system was Debby in 2024, a tropical storm 62 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 5 systems. Of the 37 systems, 6 have come since 2000. Of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site, 50% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Richfield. The highest rating among the 56 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 13 times; the most recent, on March 31, 2022, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an EF2 on November 16, 2011, killed 2 people. Of the 56, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on August 7, 2023. Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Richfield. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 50 times since 1978, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 65% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Richfield.
Compare Richfield's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Richfield
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | DebbyAug 8 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 8 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ClaudetteJun 21 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2019 | NestorOct 20 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2006 | AlbertoJun 14 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 61 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | BobJul 25 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1970 | AlmaMay 26 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 16 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleAug 31 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormOct 20 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1935 | Unnamed 1935 stormSep 6 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1927 | Unnamed 1927 stormOct 3 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 14 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 29 | 48 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 4 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 28 | 9 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 10 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 12 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 4 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1854 | Unnamed 1854 stormSep 9 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Richfield: 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 Richfield
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s7
- 2000s4
- 1990s10
- 1980s7
- 1970s9
- 1960s7
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16, 2011 | EF2 | 17 mi | 12.51 mi | 2 / 15 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | EF2 | 22 mi | 7.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 6, 2020 | EF2 | 11 mi | 6.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 2010 | EF2 | 17 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jan 14, 2005 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 29, 1999 | F2 | 9 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 29, 1999 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1991 | F2 | 16 mi | 28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 27, 1982 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 15, 1976 | F2 | 21 mi | 18.8 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Mar 24, 1975 | F2 | 17 mi | 30.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 18, 1969 | F2 | 15 mi | 27.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 56, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Richfield
The Storm Prediction Center has 50 hail reports within 10 miles of Richfield since 1978, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 23 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on August 29, 1987. The most recent report is from March 27, 2021. May has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Richfield
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Albemarle, NC, 7 miles southeast of Richfield at 610 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 51°F and 31°F. July is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 48.2 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (26.3 of 48.2 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (14); a normal September there has highs of 81°F and 4.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 39 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 66 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.8 inches a year, most of it in January and March. That 48.2 inches is more than at 47 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (34%). Rockwell, 10 miles west, has its own station (Salisbury, NC): 43.7 inches a year, 4.5 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 31 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Feb | 55 | 33 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 63 | 40 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 72 | 48 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 79 | 57 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 66 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 69 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 68 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 62 | 4.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 50 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 62 | 40 | 3.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 54 | 34 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Year | 71 | 50 | 48.2 | 72 | 0.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Albemarle, NC (610 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 Richfield
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 164 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Richfield: 132 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 flash floods, 4 floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $9.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 13, 2013. August has had the most flash floods, 8 of 25. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 340 have had fewer than Richfield.
June 13, 2013: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Richfield — 3 injured, $2.5 million damage.
September 17, 2018: flood 4 miles from the centre of Richfield — $6.5 million damage.
August 1, 1999: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Richfield — $200,000 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
Stanly County, which includes Richfield, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 3 tropical storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene, on September 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Stanly County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $21.9 million a year, the 55th highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.9 million (64%), 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.