NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shelby, 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
21 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Shelby, North Carolina since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 96 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 96
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
7 deaths in all
What the records show for Shelby
The strongest storm to pass near Shelby was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 77 mph winds when its centre passed 55 miles away. The record near Shelby begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 57 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 21 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site, 65% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Shelby. The highest rating among the 96 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 5, 1989, came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 5, 1989, killed 4 people. Of the 96, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 52 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on December 29, 2024. Shelby has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 89% of the 475 North Carolina cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 101 times since 1967, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Shelby has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 475 North Carolina cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Shelby
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | BobJul 25 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleAug 31 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1927 | Unnamed 1927 stormOct 3 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 15 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 18 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 28 | 55 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 29 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 Shelby: 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 Shelby
By decade
- 2020s13
- 2010s14
- 2000s25
- 1990s20
- 1980s5(2 EF3+)
- 1970s13(1 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1989 | F4 | 13 mi | 14 mi | 4 / 52 |
| May 5, 1989 | F4 | 15 mi | 15 mi | 2 / 35 |
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 2 mi | 60.2 mi | 0 / 40 |
| Feb 6, 2020 | EF2 | 12 mi | 8.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 23, 2017 | EF2 | 11 mi | 4.86 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2012 | EF2 | 13 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Oct 26, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 2.58 mi | 0 / 11 |
| May 9, 2008 | EF2 | 22 mi | 18.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1998 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F2 | 25 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F2 | 8 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1994 | F2 | 2 mi | 45.4 mi | 0 / 13 |
The strongest 12 of 96, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shelby
The Storm Prediction Center has 101 hail reports within 10 miles of Shelby since 1967, made on 79 separate days. Of these, 44 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 6, 2022. The most recent report is from May 8, 2025. May has the most reports, 40.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shelby
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Shelby 2 NW, NC, 2 miles north of Shelby at 820 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 53°F and 27°F. March is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 50.5 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.1 of 50.5 inches). September has brought the most of the 21 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 83°F and 4.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 43 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 88 nights a year. Snowfall averages 4.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.5 inches is more than at 73 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (52%). Cherryville, 12 miles northeast, has its own station (Lincolnton 4 W, NC): 49.6 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 27 | 4.3 | 7 | 1.8 |
| Feb | 57 | 30 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 64 | 36 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 73 | 45 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 54 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 62 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 66 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 58 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 45 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 35 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 55 | 29 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.8 |
| Year | 72 | 46 | 50.5 | 79 | 4.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Shelby 2 NW, NC (820 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 Shelby
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 176 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shelby: 167 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 13, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on July 27, 2007. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 28 have had fewer than Shelby.
August 5, 2010: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Shelby — 5 injured.
NWS: “A tree was blown down on an occupied car on Warren St in Shelby. The five people inside the car received minor injuries, mainly in the form of lacerations.”
July 5, 2022: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Shelby — 4 injured, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “County comms reported multiple trees and power lines blown down in Patterson Springs and vicinity. Some trees blocked roads and another tree fell on a house.”
January 12, 2023: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Shelby — 1 injured, $1,000 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 Shelby's 2 ZIP codes have filed 48 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $499,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 10. 10% 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, 134 have fewer than Shelby.
Cleveland County, which includes Shelby, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tropical storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene, on September 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cleveland County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $27.3 million a year, the 44th highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.4 million (57%), 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 Shelby
- Grover, NC8 mi
- Mooresboro, NC11 mi
- Lawndale, NC11 mi
- Ellenboro, NC11 mi
- Cherryville, NC12 mi
- Kings Mountain, NC12 mi
- Blacksburg, SC12 mi
- Bessemer City, NC16 mi
- Gaffney, SC16 mi
- Crouse, NC17 mi
- Bostic, NC17 mi
- Forest City, NC17 mi
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