Flooding, heat and tornadoes: 2023 Cape Fear weather event recap

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — It was another wild year of weather across the Cape Fear.

From a tropical storm, to flooding events, heat waves and tornadoes, the area saw a little bit of everything (except snow) in 2023.

As far as weather extremes go, Wilmington saw its hottest temperature on August 13th of 97. While that was the hottest weather, February also brought a record heat streak, reaching 86 degrees on the 23rd (the hottest February temperature on record).

Wilmington’s coldest temperature of 26 happened on January 16th and February 4th, with the wettest day coming on May 19th of 4.15″.

May 19th also brought a flash flooding event to the Belville/Leland area, with up to 10 inches of rain falling over a few hours.

The second-rainiest event came from Tropical Storm Idalia on August 30th, which also spawned four confirmed tornadoes across Brunswick and New Hanover County.

A lack of rainfall followed the tropical system, leading to worsening drought conditions across much of the state.

But 8.18 inches of rain in December (including two days of 3+ inches) helped bring the Cape Fear back to drought-free conditions.