Hurricane Helene roared through the state’s mountains at the tail end of September 2024, and much of 2025 was spent in recovery-and-rebuild mode. While the previous year left a big aftermath to mop up, 2025 also saw plenty of new weather events that ripped at infrastructure and caused significant damage.
The year started with much of the state outside of the mountains ending a snow drought from previous winters. In the second half of January, snow even fell along the coast. Wilmington saw its first significant snowfall in seven years with just over 2.5″ in the Port City.
Tornadoes spun up in the spring, causing the deaths of two boys when a tree fell on their home, south of Asheville. Summertime brought extreme heat to the Tar Heel state with July being one of the hottest on record for some places, like the Triangle and beyond.
It was hottest in Raleigh and tied for the hottest in Asheville. It was the second hottest July for Charlotte, Greenville and Lumberton.
The season also saw an intense storm with strong weather that brought damaging wind gusts and instances of flash flooding. The late June storm hit hardest in Caldwell, northern Iredell and Catawba counties where thousands lost power and dozens of trees fell.
On the heels of this storm came another as summer was also the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Chantal came through July Fourth weekend and dumped rain that caused significant flooding for central parts of the state and other areas of the Carolinas. The flooding caused millions of dollars of worth of damage in addition to the storm leading to four deaths, producing tornadoes, and prompting scores of water rescues.
The storm also brought on record flooding the Haw and Eno rivers.
In late August, Hurricane Erin passed by North Carolina’s coast well out to sea, but still churned up coastal impacts, including rough surf, with waves up to 20 feet high along the Outer Banks, and coastal flooding that caused erosion. Erin left destruction in its wake, bringing the beach inside some Outer Banks hotels, leaving owners and employees in a cleaning frenzy to prepare for Labor Day weekend.
Hurricane Humberto came next and was also far out in the ocean when it passed N.C.’s coast but still created dangerous surf during the last leg of the tourist season. The coast couldn’t catch a break as Imelda then came in at the end of September, out to sea too, but still causing trouble in the form of rough seas and flooding.
As those storms and others battered the coast, more homes crumbled into the surf along the Outer Banks. According to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 16 houses collapsed in Buxton and Rodanthe this year.
While early December saw a rare snow storm, the final months of the year have seen drier than normal conditions in most of North Carolina. Over half of the state is ending the year with a moderate drought. With below average precipitation forecast to continue through the winter months, the drought will be a concern we’ll monitor closely into 2026 as another growing season begins in the spring.
Elizabeth Townsend, Spectrum News Weather Staff
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