NWS Wilmington Storm Events and Erosion

Below are storm events from 1950 - 2022, which have the greatest storm surge and erosion impact.

Anna Miller

April 14, 2022

Thank you to Tim Armstrong for your extensive research on these weather events. Meteorological data collected from the Wrightsville Beach, NC - Station ID: 8658163.

Background

Storm Surge

Storm surge is the abnormal rise in seawater level during a storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal predicted astronomical tide. The surge is caused primarily by a storm’s winds pushing water onshore. The amplitude of the storm surge at any given location depends on the orientation of the coast line with the storm track; the intensity, size, and speed of the storm; and the local bathymetry (NOAA).

Storm tide is the total observed seawater level during a storm, resulting from the combination of storm surge and the astronomical tide. Astronomical tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon and have their greatest effects on seawater level during new and full moons—when the sun, the moon, and the Earth are in alignment. As a result, the highest storm tides are often observed during storms that coincide with a new or full moon (NOAA).

The Moon and Tides

The Moon and Earth exert a gravitational pull on each other. On Earth, the Moon’s gravitational pull causes the oceans to bulge out on both the side closest to the Moon and the side farthest from the Moon. These bulges create high tides. The low points are where low tides occur. The Moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, combined with other, tangential forces, causes Earth’s water to be redistributed, ultimately creating bulges of water on the side closest to the Moon and the side farthest from the Moon.

'...because the Moon is orbiting in the same direction as the Earth rotates, it takes extra time for any point on our planet to rotate and end up exactly below the Moon. This means that the high tide bulges are never directly lined up with the Moon, but a little behind it (NASA)

Pressure

Millibar values used in meteorology range from about 100 to 1050. At sea level, standard air pressure in millibars is 1013.2.

Hurricane Hazel (1954)

Wind Gust Peaks: High winds occurred over large portions of the eastern United States. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina reported a peak wind gust of 106 mph, and winds were estimated at 130 to 150 mph along the coast between Myrtle Beach and Cape Fear, North Carolina.
Tides MLLW (ft): 5.5 - 18
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Pressure: 938
Cost: $885 million

Destruction from Hurricane Hazel in Morehead City, N.C., in 1954.

Hurricane Hazel ravages North Carolina in October of 1954

Hurricane Hugo (1989)

Wind Gust Peaks: 160
Tides MLLW (ft): 12.9 ft
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous; Illumination 57
Pressure: 918
Cost: $10 billion

Hurricane Emily (1993)

Wind Gust Peaks: 115
Tides MLLW (ft): 8.5
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Illumination 98.58%
Pressure: 960
Cost: $35,000,000

Hurricane Bertha (1996)

Wind Gust Peaks: 115
Tides MLLW (ft): 8
Moon Phase: Waning crescent; Illumination 12.9%
Pressure: 960
Cost: $250-$270 million

Erosion

Hurricane Bertha at Surf City, NC July 1996

Hurricane Bertha: 1996

Hurricane Fran (1996)

Wind Gust Peaks: At the Wilmington airport winds reached 86 mph in gusts. Unofficial wind gusts were measured by rooftop weather equipment as high as 125 mph at Wrightsville Beach and 137 mph along Hewitt's Creek in Wilmington. Later investigation revealed these two anemometers were mounted very close to rooflines and the readings were likely too high.
Tides MLLW (ft): Even though Fran made landfall near the time of low tide a large storm surge pushed across the beaches causing tremendous destruction. Total storm tide reached as high as 12 feet north of Cape Fear from Carolina Beach across Wrightsville Beach to Topsail Island. This water level in combination with crashing waves was sufficient to destroy beachfront dunes and overwash many locations along the barrier islands of Southeastern North Carolina.
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent; Illumination 43%
Pressure: 946
Cost: $3.65 billion

01 / 06

Storm Surge and Flooding

At Wrightsville Beach, Fran destroyed part of Crystal Pier and most of Johnnie Mercer's Pier. Most of the island's dunes were flattened and sand covered most residential roads near the beach. Figure Eight Island's main road was covered in three feet of sand, and some homes had enough sand scoured from their yards to expose parts of septic systems. Many beachfront homes had their first floors knocked out by Fran's storm surge.

Topsail Island was almost completely overwashed by the storm tide which reached 12 feet in places. The Surf City fire station was destroyed, as was the North Topsail police station. The Surf City Pier, Scotch Bonnet Pier, Ocean City Pier, and Barnacle Bill's Pier were heavily damaged. North Topsail Beach lost an entire row of beachfront homes and a 60-foot section of highway 210. Topsail Island was breached in six places according to the Star-News, with 331 homes destroyed.

Hurricane Bonnie (1998)

Wind Gust Peaks: 115
Tides MLLW (ft): 9
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent ; Illumination 20.37%
Pressure: 954
Cost: $1.0 Billion

**Tires line Atlantic Beach after Hurricane Bonnie, August 27, 1998**

**Flooding from Hurricane Bonnie, August 27, 1998**

Hurricane Floyd (1999)

Wind Gust Peaks: 155
Tides MLLW (ft): 9
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent ; Illumination 20.37%
Pressure: 921
Cost: $6.5 billion

Hurricane Floyd - Wilmington, NC - September 16, 1999

Hurricane Floyd: 1999

Hurricane Floyd- Conway, SC September 16th, 1999 (High Quality)

This beach house rests in the sand of Oak Island, N.C., on Friday Oct. 8, 1999, where at 3 a.m. on Sept. 16, 1999, it was ground zero as Hurricane Floyd hit the United States mainland.

Hurricane Ophelia (2005)

Wind Direction: NNE 58.12
Wind Gust Peaks: 68.62
Tides MLLW (ft): 6.7
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous; Illumination 77%
Pressure: 984.9
Cost: 87.7 M

Jack Borinski, of Richmond, Va., videotapes the damage caused by Hurricane Ophelia in Salter Path, North Carolina, the USA, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005.

Tropical Storm Ernesto (2006)

Wind Direction: ESE 50.15
Wind Gust Peaks: 64.15
Tides MLLW (ft): 6.3 Ernesto approached Long Bay on the Northeast South Carolina Coast at low tide and caused a surge about 1.5 feet above astronomical. The storm tide was below normal high tide, and there was no coastal flooding. As Ernesto crossed Cape Fear the tide was above half full, and at Wrightsville Beach, NC the surge was nearly 3 feet (MLLW).
Moon Phase: First Quarter; Illumination 4%
Pressure: 986.8

Beach Erosion

Reports of minor beach erosion north of Cape Fear.

Hurricane Irene (2011)

Wind Direction: NE 48.6
Wind Gust Peaks: 60.65
Tides MLLW (ft): 7.03
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent; Illumination 7%
Pressure: 1006.8
Cost: $14.2 billion

Tropical Storm Ana (2015)

Wind Direction: ESE 29.74
Wind Gust Peaks: 39.07
Tides MLLW (ft): 5.95
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous; Illumination 65%
Pressure: 1013.2

The west end of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina experienced flooding from Tropical Storm Ana on May 10, 2015.

Hurricane Matthew (2016)

Wind Direction: N 35.96
Wind Gust Peaks: 66.87
Tides MLLW (ft): 7.11
Moon Phases: First Quarter; Illumination 3%
Pressure: 987.1
Cost: 10 B

Storm Summary

Hurricane Matthew was the most powerful storm of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Hurricane Matthew Storm Surge Flooding in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Oct 8 2016

Hurricane Florence (2018)

Wind Direction: NW 48.98
Wind Gust Peaks: 75.42
Tides MLLW (ft): 8.59
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent, Illumination 30%
Pressure: 959.3
Cost: $24.2 Billion

Storm Summary

Hurricane Florence, a large and slow moving category one hurricane, made landfall during the morning of September 14, 2018. After the eye crossed Wrightsville Beach, NC at 7:15 a.m. the storm spent the next two days producing record-breaking rainfall across eastern North Carolina and a portion of northeastern South Carolina. Over 30 inches of rain were measured in a few North Carolina locations, exceeding the highest single-storm rainfall amounts ever seen in this portion of the state. A station in Loris, SC recorded 23.63 inches rain, setting a new state tropical cyclone rainfall record for the state of South Carolina.