Hurricanes that hit Buncombe County, North Carolina: hurricane history

10 storms have passed within 50 km of Buncombe County from 1896 to 2020, coloured by intensity on the map.

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Buncombe County

The record holds 10 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Buncombe County, North Carolina between 1896 and 2020. The busiest month is July, with 3 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached tropical storm strength.

  • 10storms within 50 km
  • 0major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 0at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Buncombe County?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression880%
Tropical storm220%
Category 100%
Category 200%
Category 300%
Category 400%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity00%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

Buncombe County storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 3 in 2000s.1890s11910s11960s11980s11990s12000s32010s12020s1

The 2020s only run to 2020, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1896, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1890s1
1910s1
1960s1
1980s1
1990s1
2000s3
2010s1
2020s1

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 3 in Jul.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May0Jun1Jul3Aug2Sep3Oct1Nov0Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun1
Jul3
Aug2
Sep3
Oct1
Nov0
Dec0

Strongest storms near Buncombe County

  • Unnamed storm of July 1916 (North Atlantic)11 July 1916 to 15 July 1916, Tropical storm (45 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 960 hPa
  • Zeta (2020)24 October 2020 to 30 October 2020, Tropical storm (45 kt) near here, peak Category 2 (95 kt), 973 hPa

Most recent storms near Buncombe County

  • Zeta (2020)24 October 2020 to 30 October 2020, Tropical storm (45 kt) near here, peak Category 2 (95 kt), 973 hPa
  • Florence (2018)30 August 2018 to 18 September 2018, Tropical depression (25 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 937 hPa
  • Ivan (2004)2 September 2004 to 24 September 2004, Tropical depression (20 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 910 hPa

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

A storm that came near several counties counts in each one, so county counts add up to more than the state's.

More in North Carolina

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.