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All storm pages · 2018 Atlantic season

Hurricane Florence 2018

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 31 to September 17, 2018

Florence generated 31% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 2018 storm. Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to September 10. It made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane on September 14, 2018, with 90 mph winds. The name Florence is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Florence (2018) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°WNorth Carolina, 90 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Florence (2018) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 31Sep 2Sep 4Sep 6Sep 8Sep 10Sep 12Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18mph
  1. First record (low) far out at sea, at 12.8°N, 16.9°W
  2. Tropical storm far out at sea, at 14.3°N, 26.1°W
  3. Hurricane far out at sea, at 18.7°N, 40.2°W
  4. Major hurricane 1,120 miles northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  5. Peak, 150 mph 365 miles south-southwest of Hamilton, Bermuda; lowest pressure 937 mb
  6. Landfall North Carolina
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 45 miles south-southeast of Huntington, West Virginia
  8. Last record 15 miles south of Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure937 mb · tied 91st of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy39.7 · 43rd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone16.5 days · tied 22nd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2018 season

04080120160200Florence

Storm 6 of 16 in 2018, hurricane 3 of 8; it formed after Ernesto and before Gordon. Florence ranks second by peak wind in the season. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Orangeburg, South Carolina7 mi45 mphSeptember 16
Wilmington, North Carolina8 mi90 mphSeptember 14
Asheville, North Carolina10 mi30 mphSeptember 17
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina11 mi70 mphSeptember 15
Aiken, South Carolina11 mi40 mphSeptember 16
Greenville, South Carolina12 mi30 mphSeptember 16
Johnson City, Tennessee12 mi30 mphSeptember 17
Spartanburg, South Carolina15 mi30 mphSeptember 16

Every storm within 50 miles of Greenville, South Carolina

Similar landfalls in North Carolina

Storms whose strongest landfall record in North Carolina came closest to Florence's 90 mph:

  • Isaias (2020)90 mph, August 4, 2020
  • Diana (1984)90 mph, September 13, 1984
  • Barbara (1953)90 mph, August 14, 1953
  • Storm 6 of 193390 mph, August 23, 1933

All 69 storms with a landfall record in North Carolina

Also peaked at 150 mph

Of 27 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Laura (2020)937 mb, landfall in Antigua and Barbuda
  • Eta (2020)922 mb, landfall in Nicaragua
  • Ida (2021)929 mb, landfall in Cuba
  • Franklin (2023)926 mb, landfall in Dominican Republic