Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tabor City, NC

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Longwood, NC, 18 miles southeast of Tabor City at 40 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 56°F and 34°F. September is the wettest at 7.5 inches of precipitation on average and April the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 57.2 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 61% of the year's precipitation (34.8 of 57.2 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 108 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (41); a normal September there has highs of 82°F and 7.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 32 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 55 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 57.2 inches is more than at 115 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (82%). Loris, SC, 7 miles southwest, has its own station (Conway, SC): 55.2 inches a year, 2.0 less than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 88°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 95 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tabor City: 72 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 flash floods, 6 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 3 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $2.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on March 9, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 16. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 231 have had fewer than Tabor City.

Flood insurance policyholders in Tabor City's ZIP code 28463 have filed 45 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Florence in 2018: 14 claims (31% of all) and $894,000, then Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 10. 91% 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, 130 have fewer than Tabor City.