No active hurricanes threatening New Bern right now

Could the next one hit soon? 258 hurricanes have impacted the New Bern area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

258
Hurricanes affecting New Bern area
2025
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
2 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Sited at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers just inland from Pamlico Sound, New Bern is especially prone to storm surge and catastrophic inland flooding as powerful hurricanes push water up the estuaries—most recently hammered by surge and flooding impacts linked to storms like 2019’s Dorian and 2023’s Idalia.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the New Bern area — including Bridgeton, Grantsboro, Ernul, Pollocksville, Alliance, Arapahoe, Vanceboro, Bayboro. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the New Bern area?

Distribution of 258 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of New Bern, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
12 M
31 J
26 J
46 A
83 S
51 O
7 N
2 D

Recent notable storms affecting the New Bern area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2025 DEXTER Cat 1 70 kt 155 mi
2024 DEBBY Cat 1 70 kt 175 mi
2023 IDALIA Cat 4 115 kt 97 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 138 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 114 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 61 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 124 mi
2020 ZETA Cat 3 100 kt 197 mi
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 70 mi
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 63 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 104 mi
2018 CHRIS Cat 2 90 kt 167 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 17 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 65 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 37 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of New Bern. 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 New Bern

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1946 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 2 mi Jul 06, 1946
2023 OPHELIA TS 60 kt 4 mi Sep 23, 2023
1956 UNNAMED TS 55 kt 7 mi Oct 18, 1956
1852 UNNAMED Cat 2 90 kt 7 mi Oct 11, 1852
1882 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 7 mi Sep 23, 1882
1861 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 8 mi Sep 27, 1861
1885 UNNAMED Cat 2 90 kt 10 mi Aug 26, 1885
1912 UNNAMED TS 60 kt 14 mi Jun 15, 1912
2001 ALLISON TS 50 kt 14 mi Jun 15, 2001
1984 DIANA Cat 4 115 kt 14 mi Sep 14, 1984
Showing the 10 closest of 258 total storms within 150 mi of New Bern since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens New Bern

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Craven 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 New Bern

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between New Bern (35.1019°N, 77.0319°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of New Bern — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.