Strong rip currents led to many rescues at two area beaches.
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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.
The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Strong rip currents led to many rescues at two area beaches.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 11, 9:09 AM EST, 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 1009 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Hurricane Chris well off the North Carolina coast, will accelerate off to the northeast in the days ahead. A cold front to the north will drop south into the area late Thursday into Friday, bringing increasing chance of thunderstorms. Slightly cooler air will follow behind front into the weekend as high pressure builds down from the north. Seasonably warm conditions are expected Sunday through early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 1000 AM Wednesday...No significant changes with this mid- morning update other than minor tweaks to decrease cloud cover and raise diurnal curve a bit. High res guidance showing a few isolated showers/tstms this aftn, but expect this is overdone thanks to downslope flow aloft and still a very dry airmass, so have maintained silent POP through tonight. Previous discussion below: As of 300 AM Wednesday...Air mass will continue to modify with warming and moisture slowly on the rise as Chris accelerates off to the NE and a front drops down into North Carolina. W to SW winds will pick a bit later today especially along the coast as sea breeze kicks in and trough holds well inland. Pcp water values closer to an inch this morning will reach back toward normal values, up near 1.5 inches, by early this evening and close to 2 inches just ahead of front which will be nearing the northern borders of forecast area by Thurs morning. Moisture profiles and soundings show potential for some cu around between 5 to 7 k ft and maybe a few mid level clouds, but overall expect plenty of sunshine. Instability increases but moisture through the column will be lacking and soundings do not look to support any showers, especially with help of a more downslope flow. Have kept any shwrs out of the forecast until end of forecast period heading into early Thurs morning as W-NW steering flow may drive a shower into the local forecast area ahead of approaching cold front. Expect warm temps today into the mid to upper 90s with 850 temps reaching up near 19c and a westerly downslope component to the flow. Dewpoint temps have recovered to mid 60s to around 70. Some drier air should mix down lowering them to the mid 60s this aftn. This will combine with temps well into the 90s to produce heat index values near 100 many places this aftn. A decent sea breeze should kick in this afternoon with winds backing toward the S along the coast and becoming gusty. Temps tonight will remain on the warm side...in the 70s. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 400 AM Wednesday...This will basically be a wet 2 day period with improvements by the end. An upper trof will dominate and affect the area this period by driving basically an east to west oriented sfc cold front slowly southward. The start of this period has this front just north of the FA with active wx occurring along it, with some of the showers bleeding into the northern portions of the ILM CWA. The atm will destabilize once insolation commences and should see convection popping up especially across the northern half of the FA and along the sea breeze. By mid to late afternoon, looking at widespread convection across the FA with the hiest POPs slated for the afternoon thru a good portion of Thu night. Models want to keep active convective wx going even long after the insolation ceases. This may be the workings of the front itself and/or weak mid-level impulses having dropped down from the NW. Friday into Friday evening will see convection basically end from north to south as the frontal boundary continues to snake southward. And being optimistic here, the front should be entirely south of the FA prior to daybreak Sat. Have basically followed a mesh of the various model MOS guidance for temps/dewpts. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 300 PM Tuesday...A cold front will be positioned near the southern edge of the CWA Friday morning, and will only slowly sink southward through the day. This slow motion is due to weak cyclogenesis which may occur along the boundary, and until this feature pushes east and drags the cold front with it, showers and tstms will be possible on Friday. Best chance for convection will be across SC Friday, but the entire area will have the potential. As this front drags southward late, it will be followed by a surge of drier air into the weekend in conjunction with mid-level ridge centered over the TN VLY expanding back to the east. This is agreed upon by the ECM/CMC, while the GFS remains a weak outlier. Favoring a non GFS blend, this suggests the weekend and into early next week will return to above normal heat and climo or slightly below climo POP as the ridge holds in place. That being the case, aftn thunderstorms will be possible through the weekend, but coverage is expected to be minimal. By early next week it is more likely that a stronger shortwave rotating from the Plains will better suppress the ridge and bring better chances for convection, but temps are forecast to remain above climo through the end of the period. && .AVIATION /14Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 12Z...VFR conditions thruout this fcst period. The exception is for patchy ground fog 08z-12Z Thu. Confidence is low at this time and did not include at this 12z issuance. Looking at another day with no convection, just FEW/SCT cumulus possible especially along the sea breeze. Temps are still too warm aloft and thus making it difficult for cumulus to grow in the vertical. Winds start off calm inland terminals and westerly at the coastal terminals ie. land breeze. All terminals will see winds become SW 5 to 10 kt by mid to late this morning. For the coastal terminals, expect the sea breeze to develop around 16Z with winds becoming S-SSW at 10 to 15 kt. Guidance indicates the sea breeze may make it to FLO/LBT prior to sunset but at lower speeds. Winds by 07Z THU drop to near calm inland terminals and less than 5 kt coastal terminals. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT... As of 300 AM Wednesday...Winds will back around from W-SW to a more southerly direction through today increasing up to 10 to 15 kts between high pressure off shore and trough inland and then approach of cold front from the N. The sea breeze will help to kick winds up a bit near the coast. Back swell from Chris will dampen out quickly but long period swell up to 12 to 14 seconds from Beryl will enter the waters late today into tonight. SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 400 AM Wednesday...This period will feature no SCEC or SCA thresholds to be met. The highlight of this period will be the slow nature of the cold front, oriented east to west, dropping southward and finally exiting south of South Santee River by daybreak Sat. Convection will become quite active along this boundary as it pushes southward with the worst storms potentially producing 30+ kt wind gusts and near 0 vsby at times from the rain. Overall winds will start out from the SW 15 kt or less becoming variable 10 kt as the frontal boundary pushes overhead and becoming NE-E 10 to 15 kt after it's passage. This may be underdone given the previous CFP in July. Significant seas will run 2 to 4 ft with short period wind driven waves dominating with the possibility of the remnants of Beryl producing a small/weak swell that reaches the waters Friday. LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 300 PM Tuesday...Wind speeds will be light, 10 kts or less, and begin to veer to the E then SE during Saturday as broad high pressure skirts off the Mid- Atlantic coast. This high will then shift further offshore during Sunday causing winds to gradually turn to the S then SW by the end of the period, with a subtle increase in speed. Despite the low wind speeds, a moderate- amplitude easterly swell of 3-4 ft at 8 sec will gradually dissipate, but several other wave groups including the wind wave, some swell from what may become TS Beryl again, and a SE ground swell will combine in the spectrum, through the weekend. This will produce 2-4 ft seas through the weekend. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... As of 300 AM Wednesday...As the new moon approaches on Thurs, tides will run higher than normal, with minor flooding expected each evening during the high tide over the next few days. Remain alert for the issuance of coastal flood advisories with additional details. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...None. NC...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS... NEAR TERM...JDW/RGZ SHORT TERM...DCH LONG TERM...JDW AVIATION...DCH MARINE... TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wilmington NC 430 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 NCZ107-120830- Inland New Hanover- 430 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Coastal flooding possible this evening in flood prone areas along the Cape Fear River within a couple of hours surrounding the time of high tide, between 8 and 10 pm. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Heavy rain and localized flooding possible in thunderstorms Thursday. Coastal flooding possible in flood prone areas along the Cape Fear River within a couple of hours surrounding the time of high tide over the next few days. The heat index will likely range from 100 to 103 degrees each afternoon Sunday through Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. NCZ106-108-110-SCZ054-056-120830- Coastal Pender-Coastal New Hanover-Coastal Brunswick-Coastal Horry- Coastal Georgetown- 430 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Coastal flooding possible this evening along flood prone areas at the beaches, mainly north of Cape Fear, during the couple of hours surrounding high tide around 6 to 8 pm. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Heavy rain and localized flooding possible in thunderstorms Thursday. Coastal flooding possible along flood prone areas at the beaches during the couple of hours surrounding high tide. The heat index will likely range from 100 to 103 degrees each afternoon Sunday through Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. NCZ087-096-099-105-109-SCZ017-023-024-032-033-039-055-058-059-120830- Robeson-Bladen-Columbus-Inland Pender-Inland Brunswick-Marlboro- Darlington-Dillon-Florence-Marion-Williamsburg-Inland Georgetown- Central Horry-Northern Horry- 430 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Heavy rain and localized flooding possible in thunderstorms Thursday. The heat index will likely range from 100 to 103 degrees each afternoon Sunday through Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. AMZ250-252-254-256-120830- Coastal waters from Surf City to Cape Fear NC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Cape Fear NC to Little River Inlet SC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Little River Inlet to Murrells Inlet SC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Murrells Inlet to South Santee River SC out 20 nm- 430 AM EDT Wed Jul 11 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the adjacent Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong rip currents led to 45 rescues at Wrightsville Beach. Another 15 rescues occurred at Carolina Beach. The following day, another 40 rescues occurred at Wrightsville Beach.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, July 2018
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. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 776164.