No active hurricanes threatening Asheville right now

Could the next one hit soon? 77 hurricanes have impacted the Asheville area since 1854 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

77
Hurricanes affecting Asheville area
2024
Most recent
150 kt
Strongest peak winds
7 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Asheville’s mountain location makes inland flooding and extreme rainfall the principal hurricane hazards rather than storm surge, with potent remnants like Hurricane Ida (2021) and Zeta (2020) producing intense rain and damaging flash floods across the region.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Asheville area — including Enka, Skyland, Weaverville, Swannanoa, Alexander, Candler, Arden, Leicester. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Asheville area?

Distribution of 77 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Asheville, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
1 M
8 J
8 J
18 A
27 S
14 O
1 N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the Asheville area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 HELENE Cat 4 120 kt 90 mi
2024 DEBBY Cat 1 70 kt 138 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 71 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 162 mi
2021 IDA Cat 4 130 kt 96 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 151 mi
2020 ZETA Cat 3 100 kt 62 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 132 mi
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 46 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 114 mi
2017 NATE Cat 1 80 kt 181 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2017 that came within 200 miles of Asheville. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Asheville

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1994 BERYL TS 50 kt 7 mi Aug 17, 1994
1911 UNNAMED Cat 2 85 kt 14 mi Aug 31, 1911
1968 ABBY Cat 1 65 kt 26 mi Jun 09, 1968
1985 DANNY Cat 1 80 kt 34 mi Aug 18, 1985
1901 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 35 mi Sep 28, 1901
1916 UNNAMED Cat 3 100 kt 42 mi Jul 15, 1916
2005 CINDY Cat 1 65 kt 42 mi Jul 07, 2005
2004 IVAN Cat 5 145 kt 44 mi Sep 17, 2004
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 46 mi Sep 17, 2018
1906 UNNAMED Cat 1 80 kt 48 mi Sep 18, 1906
Showing the 10 closest of 77 total storms within 150 mi of Asheville since 1854.

If a hurricane threatens Asheville

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Buncombe County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Asheville

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Asheville (35.5971°N, 82.5565°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Asheville — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.