When is the worst time for hurricanes in SC and why? Here’s what data shows

Situated squarely in the middle of the southeastern coast, rarely a year goes by that South Carolina doesn’t get pounded by rain, winds and flooding in the Atlantic hurricane season.

Although storms hit throughout the summer and fall, traditional wisdom from South Carolinians has long pointed to the late summer and early fall as the worst time for hurricanes. And based on data from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, they’re is statistically correct.

What makes August through October prime for SC storms

“Ultimately, it’s a climatological factor,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Weiner. “Although hurricane season starts in June, conditions over the main development region of the Atlantic — which is the tropical zone between Africa and the Caribbean — that zone, over time, becomes more favorable for supporting tropical waves that come off of Africa to actually develop into tropical systems.”

While waves coming off of Africa earlier in the hurricane season, dry air from the Sahara Desert inhibits the development of storms that would otherwise become tropical systems. When that subsides later in the season, the southeastern United States tend to see worse storms. Later in the season, usually around the late fall, South Carolina sees a drop in storms as water and air temperatures cool.

“The water starts to cool down, we start to see colder and drier air masses start to make it down and cold fronts push further and further into the Atlantic,” Weiner said. “Those cold fronts start to push further and further into the Atlantic Ocean, and that can deflect or help storms to turn away from the coast before they get there.”

South Carolina storms, by the data

According to the DNR, 267 hurricanes and tropical storms have impacted South Carolina since 1851. Of those storms, more than 70% hit in August, September or October. September was hit the hardest, with 87 hurricanes and tropical storms.

That’s in keeping with cyclone activity across the Atlantic basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Although hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, cyclone activity sometimes occurs before and after that six-month period.

Mapping tropical storm and hurricane dates across the region from 1944 to 2020, NOAA identified Sept. 10 as the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October.

In South Carolina, the preceding three months — May, June and July — also had their share of storms, accounting for more than a quarter of storms impacting the state.

Although 267 hurricanes and tropical storms impacted the state, only 47 actually made landfall in South Carolina.

Looking at the maximum storm category during impacts to South Carolina, the state was directly hit by 21 tropical storms, 15 Category 1 hurricanes, seven Category 2 hurricanes and three Category 4 hurricanes since 1851.

Fortunately, none of the Category 5 hurricanes that made landfall over South Carolina in that timeframe reached the maximum category while impacting the state.

SC tropical storm and hurricane landfall breakdown

May: four storms

• Tropical storms: Unnamed storm (1916), Ana (2015), Bonnie (2016) and Bertha (2020)

June: three storms

• Topical storms: Unnamed storm (1979) and Danny (2021)
• Category 1: Unnamed storm (1867)

July: six storms

• Tropical storms: Unnamed storm (1946), Bob (1985), unnamed storm (1994) and Colin (2022)
• Category 1: Cindy (1959)
• Category 2: Unnamed storm (1916)

August: 12 storms

• Tropical storms: Unnamed storm (1952), Dottie (1976), Chris (1988) and Debby (2024)
• Category 1: Unnamed storm (1898), Charley (2004), Gaston (2004) and Isaias (2020)
• Category 2: Unnamed storm (1885), unnamed storm (1911), unnamed storm (1940) and Abel (1952)

September: 14 storms

• Category 1: Unnamed storm (1874), unnamed storm (1878), unnamed storm (1894), unnamed storm (1904), unnamed storm (1906), unnamed storm (1928) and Ian (2022)
• Category 2: Unnamed storm (1883)
• Category 4: Gracie (1959) and Hugo (1989)

October: eight storms

• Tropical storms: Unnamed storm (1908), unnamed storm (1927) and Kyle (2002)
• Category 1: Unnamed storm (1913) and Mathew (2016)
• Category 2: Unnamed storm (1899)
• Category 3: Unnamed storm (1983)
• Category 4: Hazel (1954)

This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM.