NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Zirconia, 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
14 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Zirconia, North Carolina since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 38 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 14
- Tornadoes
- 38
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Zirconia
None of the 14 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Zirconia; the strongest was Hugo in 1989, a tropical storm with 68 mph winds when its centre passed 60 miles away. The record near Zirconia begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 63 miles away. The 1900s and the 1910s were the busiest decades, with 3 systems each. Of the 14 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site, 85% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Zirconia. The strongest of the 38 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 27, 1973; its path came within 25 miles. Of the 38, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 19 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on December 29, 2024. Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 82% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Zirconia. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 102 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Zirconia has more hail reports within 10 miles than 84% of the 475 North Carolina cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Zirconia
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 15 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 52 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 Zirconia: 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 Zirconia
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s9
- 2000s1
- 1990s5
- 1980s1
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 25 mi | 60.2 mi | 0 / 40 |
| Apr 25, 2020 | EF2 | 22 mi | 5.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | EF2 | 12 mi | 7.97 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Mar 23, 1979 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jan 10, 1975 | F2 | 19 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 1973 | F2 | 16 mi | 23.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 1973 | F2 | 23 mi | 12.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF1 | 23 mi | 0.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2019 | EF1 | 15 mi | 1.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 2017 | EF1 | 13 mi | 0.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 2017 | EF1 | 13 mi | 1.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 30, 2010 | EF1 | 24 mi | 2.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 38, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Zirconia
The Storm Prediction Center has 102 hail reports within 10 miles of Zirconia since 1959, made on 75 separate days. Of these, 47 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 3, 1998. The most recent report is from June 25, 2025. May has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Zirconia
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hendersonville 1 NE, NC, 9 miles north of Zirconia at 2,160 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 48°F and 27°F. July is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 4.1 inches; the year adds up to 59.3 inches over 87 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 51% of the year's precipitation (30.2 of 59.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 14 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 5.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 88 nights a year. Snowfall averages 6.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 59.3 inches is more than at 122 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (87%). Saluda, 8 miles east, has its own station (Tryon, NC): 64.4 inches a year, 5.1 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 27 | 5.3 | 7 | 2.9 |
| Feb | 52 | 29 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 59 | 35 | 5.0 | 8 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 68 | 43 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 75 | 52 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 5.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 64 | 5.8 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 63 | 5.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 56 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 45 | 4.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 59 | 34 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 51 | 29 | 5.3 | 7 | 2.1 |
| Year | 67 | 45 | 59.3 | 87 | 6.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hendersonville 1 NE, NC (2,160 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 Zirconia
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 159 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Zirconia: 92 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 flash floods, 26 floods and 7 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $16.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on July 8, 2001. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 404 have had fewer than Zirconia.
September 27, 2024: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Zirconia — 1 killed, $15.0 million damage.
August 10, 2001: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Zirconia — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
July 4, 1997: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Zirconia — 1 injured.
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 Zirconia's ZIP code 28790 have filed 11 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2013, and were paid $79,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 73% 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, 10 have fewer than Zirconia.
Henderson County, which includes Zirconia, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 hurricanes, 3 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 Henderson County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for hurricanes; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $40.7 million a year, the 32nd highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $18.9 million (46%), 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 Zirconia
- Flat Rock, NC6 mi
- East Flat Rock, NC6 mi
- Saluda, NC8 mi
- Hendersonville, NC9 mi
- Etowah, NC11 mi
- Marietta, SC11 mi
- Pisgah Forest, NC12 mi
- Travelers Rest, SC13 mi
- Horse Shoe, NC13 mi
- Mills River, NC14 mi
- Tryon, NC14 mi
- Landrum, SC15 mi
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