Coastal Carolina Gets 1,000-Year Rainfall Event From Storm System

Parts of North Carolina saw something Monday that has not been seen in hundreds, or perhaps 1,000 years – 18 inches of rain in half a day.

That’s “once in every 1,000 years!” the National Weather Service said on social media Monday afternoon, as the tropical system moved across the Carolinas.

The system was not organized enough to be called a tropical storm, but it was still historic. The heaviest rain and flash flooding was in Carolina Beach, Boiling Springs and Southport, in southeast North Carolina, the NWS reported. Winds gusted as high as 77 mph but sustained winds reached 35 mph, USA Today and local news media reported.

Other areas that felt unusually heavy precipitation included St. James, Leland and Wilmington. Roads were closed in much of the region. The storm was expected to weaken Tuesday as it moved inland but more rain was expected in coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia. Tornadoes also were a threat Tuesday morning, the Weather Service noted.

The system may be considered another example of a damaging storm that spins up or gains strength close to shore, instead of starting off the west coast of Africa and building as it moves closer to the Caribbean Sea, reports have said.