Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Whiteville, NC

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Whiteville 7 NW, NC, 8 miles northwest of Whiteville at 90 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 55°F and 32°F. September is the wettest at 6.6 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 50.8 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 (29.1 of 50.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 105 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (41); a normal September there has highs of 84°F and 6.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 62 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 59 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.8 inches is more than at 75 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (54%). Nakina, 14 miles south, has its own station (Longwood, NC): 57.2 inches a year, 6.4 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 90°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 137 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Whiteville: 98 thunderstorm wind reports, 20 flash floods, 12 floods, 5 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on July 31, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 20. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 284 have had fewer than Whiteville.

Flood insurance policyholders in Whiteville's ZIP code 28472 have filed 255 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $10.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Florence in 2018: 89 claims (35% of all) and $4.9 million, then Hurricane Matthew in 2016 with 41 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 26. 86% 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, 208 have fewer than Whiteville.