No active hurricanes threatening Brunswick right now

Could the next one hit soon? 228 hurricanes have impacted the Brunswick area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

228
Hurricanes affecting Brunswick area
2025
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
2 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Brunswick's low-lying coastal position and nearby barrier islands make storm surge the dominant threat, with powerful recent events such as Hurricane Idalia (2023, Cat 4) and Hurricane Michael-era impacts underscoring its vulnerability to major surge and coastal inundation.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Brunswick area — including Saint Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Sea Island, Waverly, Darien, Meridian, Woodbine, Waynesville. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Brunswick area?

Distribution of 228 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Brunswick, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
10 M
27 J
27 J
40 A
63 S
54 O
6 N
1 D

Recent notable storms affecting the Brunswick area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 DEBBY Cat 1 70 kt 20 mi
2024 HELENE Cat 4 120 kt 107 mi
2024 MILTON Cat 5 155 kt 192 mi
2023 IDALIA Cat 4 115 kt 64 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 149 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 163 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 75 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 22 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 106 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 181 mi
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 111 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 151 mi
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 168 mi
2017 IRMA Cat 5 155 kt 120 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 60 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Brunswick. 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 Brunswick

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1882 UNNAMED Cat 4 120 kt 2 mi Oct 11, 1882
1871 UNNAMED Cat 3 100 kt 6 mi Aug 23, 1871
1944 UNNAMED Cat 4 125 kt 6 mi Oct 20, 1944
1885 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 9 mi Aug 31, 1885
2016 JULIA TS 45 kt 9 mi Sep 14, 2016
1919 UNNAMED TS 40 kt 12 mi Oct 01, 1919
1964 CLEO Cat 4 130 kt 12 mi Aug 29, 1964
1916 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 13 mi May 16, 1916
1910 UNNAMED Cat 4 130 kt 13 mi Oct 19, 1910
1912 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 14 mi Jul 15, 1912
Showing the 10 closest of 228 total storms within 150 mi of Brunswick since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens Brunswick

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Glynn 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 Brunswick

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Brunswick (31.1697°N, 81.4930°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Brunswick — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.