Tropical impacts in November in NC rare, but not unheard of

Dave Downey
·1 min read
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — We’re into the second week of November, which is the final month of hurricane season. Historically, it’s the least active month for tropical development in the Atlantic Ocean, and that has been the case thus far this November.

Still, in years past, North Carolina has seen tropical impacts in November, although they’re fairly few and far between.

The most impactful storm came back in 1861, when the Expedition Hurricane crossed the Outer Banks during the Civil War. Even though it was the eighth storm of the 1861 season, it was called the Expedition Hurricane due to its impacts on a Union fleet of ships near Cape Hatteras. The hurricane scattered 75 of those ships, sinking two of them. Seven sailors died from the Category 1 storm.

The other four storms had relatively minor impacts, especially here in central North Carolina. The one that probably had the most impact was Hurricane Gordon hitting Kitty Hawk back in 1994. The other three storms were Ida in 2009, Kate in 1985, and Eta, most recently in 2020.

Right now, both the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans are free of any tropical activity, whether that be named storms or areas to watch for development. It’s the first time that has happened since June 12th — almost five months ago!

This time last year, Hurricane Nicole was intensifying near the Bahamas before making landfall in Florida on November 10. Hopefully we can get to November 30th of this year, the end of the 2023 season, with no more named storms.

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