No active hurricanes threatening Nags Head right now

Could the next one hit soon? 287 hurricanes have impacted the Nags Head area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

287
Hurricanes affecting Nags Head area
2025
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
4 mi
Closest approach
Local note: As a low-lying Outer Banks barrier community with oceanfront exposure on both the Atlantic and the sound side, Nags Head's dominant hurricane hazard is storm surge — recent powerful storms such as Dorian (2019) and Idalia (2023) have produced major surge and beach erosion that define its risk.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Nags Head area — including Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras, Salvo, Waves, Rodanthe, Ocracoke. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Nags Head area?

Distribution of 287 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Nags Head, by month of closest approach.

J
1 F
M
A
12 M
33 J
28 J
58 A
92 S
51 O
10 N
2 D

Recent notable storms affecting the Nags Head area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2025 DEXTER Cat 1 70 kt 148 mi
2023 IDALIA Cat 4 115 kt 133 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 143 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 94 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 145 mi
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 10 mi
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 107 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 139 mi
2018 CHRIS Cat 2 90 kt 156 mi
2017 MARIA Cat 5 150 kt 154 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 32 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 51 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 25 mi
2014 BERTHA Cat 1 70 kt 181 mi
2011 IRENE Cat 3 105 kt 43 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Nags Head. 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 Nags Head

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1912 UNNAMED TS 60 kt 4 mi Jun 15, 1912
1932 UNNAMED Cat 1 65 kt 4 mi Sep 16, 1932
2015 CLAUDETTE TS 45 kt 10 mi Jul 12, 2015
1893 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 10 mi Oct 23, 1893
1908 UNNAMED Cat 1 65 kt 10 mi May 29, 1908
1985 GLORIA Cat 4 125 kt 10 mi Sep 27, 1985
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 10 mi Sep 06, 2019
1897 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 11 mi Oct 20, 1897
1897 UNNAMED TS 60 kt 13 mi Sep 23, 1897
1924 UNNAMED Cat 1 75 kt 14 mi Sep 17, 1924
Showing the 10 closest of 287 total storms within 150 mi of Nags Head since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens Nags Head

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Dare 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 Nags Head

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Nags Head (35.3472°N, 75.5676°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Nags Head — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.