NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Roanoke Rapids, 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
64 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ophelia in 2023. Since 1950, 40 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 7
- Tropical storms
- 57
- Tornadoes
- 40
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Roanoke Rapids
The strongest storm to pass near Roanoke Rapids was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 2 hurricane with 101 mph winds when its centre passed 35 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Isabel in 2003, whose centre came within 8 miles. The record near Roanoke Rapids begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ophelia in 2023, a tropical storm 8 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 9 systems. Of the 64 systems, 13 have come since 2000. Roanoke Rapids has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 60% of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site. The strongest of the 40 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on November 27, 1988; its path came within 7 miles, and it killed 4 people. Of the 40, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on January 4, 2023. Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Roanoke Rapids. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 30 times since 1985, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 89% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Roanoke Rapids.
Compare Roanoke Rapids's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Roanoke Rapids
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | OpheliaSep 23 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 8 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ClaudetteJun 21 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2019 | NestorOct 20 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 12 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2013 | AndreaJun 7 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 1 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | AlbertoJun 14 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2004 | CharleyAug 14 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2003 | IsabelSep 18 | 8 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2000 | HeleneSep 23 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1999 | FloydSep 16 | 67 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1999 | DennisSep 5 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1998 | EarlSep 4 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1997 | DannyJul 24 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | FranSep 6 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 27 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1970 | AlmaMay 26 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 16 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1964 | IsbellOct 16 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1964 | CleoSep 1 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 14 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | CindyJul 10 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 17 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 28 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 25 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormOct 20 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1935 | Unnamed 1935 stormSep 6 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 19 | 17 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 11 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 16 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 14 | overhead | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormOct 31 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 13 | 40 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormJun 17 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 10 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormOct 21 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJul 2 | overhead | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1883 | Unnamed 1883 stormSep 12 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 23 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormSep 10 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 35 mi | Category 2 (101 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 4 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 17 | 21 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 25 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 18 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 27 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1854 | Unnamed 1854 stormSep 10 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormAug 25 | 58 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 Roanoke Rapids: 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 Roanoke Rapids
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s11
- 2000s6
- 1990s8
- 1980s7(2 EF3+)
- 1970s2
- 1960s3
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 27, 1988 | F4 | 7 mi | 83 mi | 4 / 154 |
| Oct 14, 1986 | F3 | 24 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 16, 2011 | EF2 | in town | 8.18 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 30, 1989 | F2 | 12 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Nov 28, 1988 | F2 | 20 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 15, 1981 | F2 | 7 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1979 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Oct 2, 1969 | F2 | 14 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 2, 1953 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1952 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF1 | 13 mi | 8.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF1 | 4 mi | 15.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 40, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Roanoke Rapids
The Storm Prediction Center has 30 hail reports within 10 miles of Roanoke Rapids since 1985, made on 22 separate days. Of these, 19 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 5 days, most recently April 14, 2021. The most recent report is from April 14, 2021. May has the most reports, 13.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Roanoke Rapids
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Roanoke Rapids, NC, 2 miles north of Roanoke Rapids at 210 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 50°F and 30°F. September is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 78 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (28.1 of 49.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 64 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (29); a normal September there has highs of 82°F and 5.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 46 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 70 nights a year. That 49.5 inches is more than at 61 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (44%). Halifax, 11 miles southeast, has its own station (Jackson, NC): 50.8 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 50 | 30 | 3.7 | 7 |
| Feb | 53 | 32 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Mar | 60 | 37 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Apr | 70 | 46 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 78 | 57 | 3.4 | 7 |
| Jun | 85 | 65 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Jul | 89 | 70 | 5.4 | 8 |
| Aug | 88 | 68 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Sep | 82 | 62 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Oct | 71 | 50 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Nov | 61 | 40 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Dec | 53 | 34 | 3.5 | 6 |
| Year | 70 | 49 | 49.5 | 78 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Roanoke Rapids, NC (210 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 Roanoke Rapids
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 122 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Roanoke Rapids: 90 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 13 heavy rain events and 2 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on March 18, 2021. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 17. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Roanoke Rapids.
August 25, 2012: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Roanoke Rapids — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Eight to twelve inches of rain resulted in flash flood waters of nearly 2 feet deep that flooded more than 80 residences and the evacuation of more than 50 residents. 5.”
October 8, 2016: flood 9 miles from the centre of Roanoke Rapids — $450,000 damage.
March 18, 2021: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Roanoke Rapids — $100,000 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 Roanoke Rapids's ZIP code 27870 have filed 42 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $379,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Floyd in 1999: 18 claims (43% of all) and $217,000. 60% 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, 123 have fewer than Roanoke Rapids.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Floyd1999 | 18 | $217,000 |
Halifax County, which includes Roanoke Rapids, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1988, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 25, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Halifax County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and inland flooding; Relatively Low for hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $19.6 million a year, the 59th highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.4 million (48%), 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.