Storms in North Carolina in 1997

1,005 events in 343 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in North Carolina in 1997, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.

North Carolina in 1997 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over North Carolina

The year

Events: 1,005
Deaths: 9
Injuries: 45
Damage: $47 million
Episodes: 343

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

By kind of event

Kind of event	Events	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
Thunderstorm Wind	302	1	8	$1.1 million
Hail	237	0	17	$22 million
Heavy Snow	76	1	0
Flash Flood	74	3	7	$14 million
Winter Weather	67	0	0
Lightning	40	0	4	$2.3 million
Winter Storm	39	0	0
Ice Storm	33	0	0	$2.0 million
Cold/Wind Chill	33	2	0	$200,000
High Wind	23	1	1	$43,000
Sleet	19	0	0
Strong Wind	15	0	2
Tornado	11	0	1	$877,000
Waterspout	11	0	0
Dense Fog	10	0	0
Flood	5	0	0	$2,000
Funnel Cloud	4	0	0
Rip Current	3	0	2
Dust Devil	1	0	0	$10,000
Heavy Rain	1	0	3	$4.0 million
Heat	1	1	0

Every episode, month by month

January 1997

February 1997

March 1997

April 1997

May 1997

June 1997

July 1997

August 1997

September 1997

October 1997

November 1997

December 1997

Every year in North Carolina Every state in 1997 Tornadoes in North Carolina in 1997 Warnings in North Carolina in 1997 1996 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.