The 1996 season

Tropical Storm Arthur (1996)

Tropical Storm Arthur peaked at 45 kt in the North Atlantic between June 17, 1996 and June 23, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 992 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Tropical Storm Arthur. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
June 17, 1996 to June 23, 1996
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
992 mb (29.29 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.8
Fastest the center moved
48 kt (55 mph)
Identifier
AL011996

Radar at KMHX as it neared land, Jun 20, 00:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)$1.0 million

What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 2 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Jun 20, 00:00Gloucester, NC, 13 km away34.7N 76.4W35 kt (40 mph)1005 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

In the United States

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths
0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1.0 million
Crop damage
none recorded
Events recorded
21 in 5 reports from 2 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
North Carolina00$1.0 million20
South Carolina001

What was recorded

21 tropical storm.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 383 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 5.85 inches (149 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GEORGETOWN 2 E5.85 in (149 mm)33.35N 79.22W
BROOKGREEN GARDENS5.63 in (143 mm)33.52N 79.08W
GLASGOW 1 SE4.69 in (119 mm)37.62N 79.43W
BLUE RIDGE 3 SW4.43 in (113 mm)34.87N 84.32W
PIEDMONT RSCH STN3.70 in (94 mm)38.22N 78.12W
KINSTON 7 SE3.48 in (88 mm)35.18N 77.53W
LONGWOOD3.40 in (86 mm)34.00N 78.53W
FLORENCE RGNL AP3.20 in (81 mm)34.18N 79.72W
GORDONSVILLE 3 S3.09 in (78 mm)38.08N 78.17W
MT HOLLY 4 NE3.02 in (77 mm)35.33N 80.98W
CHARLOTTESVILLE 2W2.49 in (63 mm)38.02N 78.52W
CARROLLTON2.44 in (62 mm)33.58N 85.07W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Wind reports

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

WindHowWhereStateTime (UTC)
25 kt (29 mph)EstimatedBrunswickNorth CarolinaJun 18, 15:00
25 kt (29 mph)EstimatedNew HanoverNorth CarolinaJun 18, 15:00
25 kt (29 mph)EstimatedGeorgetownSouth CarolinaJun 18, 15:00

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jun 17, 18:0026.8N 77.8W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jun 18, 00:0027.7N 78.3W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jun 18, 06:0028.6N 78.8W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jun 18, 12:0029.7N 78.8W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jun 18, 18:0030.6N 78.7W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jun 19, 00:0031.5N 78.7W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 06:0032.3N 78.6W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 12:0033.2N 78.1W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 18:0033.9N 77.3W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 00:00 landfall34.7N 76.4W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 06:0035.5N 75.4W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 12:0036.4N 74.1W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Jun 20, 18:0036.9N 72.5W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jun 21, 00:0037.3N 70.3W30 kt1003 mbTropical depression
Jun 21, 06:0037.3N 66.5W30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Jun 21, 12:0037.5N 62.0W35 kt1001 mbExtratropical
Jun 21, 18:0037.8N 56.2W45 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 00:0038.5N 50.5W45 kt998 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 06:0040.0N 47.0W45 kt995 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 12:0041.0N 43.0W45 kt993 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 18:0042.5N 40.0W45 kt992 mbExtratropical
Jun 23, 00:0044.0N 37.0W45 kt996 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1996

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.