Leland , NC anyone?? (Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro: homes, school, tornadoes)

[drkolie]

Hi there.....at present we live in Raleigh, NC and are looking to move closer to the coast.

I love snow, but with advancing age, I am not too fond of our ice. I am a misquito magnet during the summer and the humidity in raleigh is just a little too smothering.

A while back, someone told me that Leland was a wonderful place, close enought to the ocean, but inland enough that not too much weather.

Anyone out there that can tell me thier opinion about this small area? or specifics for that matter?.....thanks

[mm34b]

Well, I think Leland (Brunswick County) is just on the other side of the Cape Fear River from Wilmington. In the past, the mouth of the Cape Fear was always considered a magnet for hurricanes and tropical storms, but who knows what the future will bring. Overall, the summertime weather is going to be almost identical to the Raleigh area, so don't expect any noticeable relief from the heat and humidity there.

These are the normal average highs in July for selected NC Metro areas based on National Weather Service data over the past 30+ years:

Asheville - 83.3
Charlotte - 90.1
Raleigh - 89.1
Greensboro - 87.6
Wilmington - 89.9
Elizabeth City - 89.2

[luckydog]

You'll see less ice.

You'll have more mosquitos...the closer to the coast you are, the closer to bogs, swamps & wetlands which are breeding grounds for mosquitos.

You'll have at least the same, if not more humidity & heat....the closer to the coast, coupled with the farther south, you travel...well, the more humidity & heat.

Leland is not far enough inland that weather will not be a consequence...mainly hurricanes. You will be in a direct-hit zone.

I have never lived in Leland, but I did live in Wilmington for a couple of years. It's very close to Wilmington.

Hope that it a help to you.

[drkolie]

thanks for the imput.......i thought the humidity would be less due to costal winds.......we were in wilmington this month and the winds were great........

I had no idea it was in the direct path of hurricaines..wow

I appriciate the heads up............

[mm34b]

Q: What was the worst hurricane to strike North Carolina?

A: The answer(s) to this question depend upon the definition of "worst." Hurricane Floyd is the latest candidate. When it made landfall in September 1999, it was in a downward transition to a category-two storm. However, with streams and rivers of the eastern counties already filled from the summer rains, Floyd was a monstrous flood producer that is now recognized as the greatest disaster in North Carolina history. Before Floyd, Hurricane Fran, which made landfall near Cape Fear in September 1996, was the most destructive storm in North Carolina history. It left behind a trail of wreckage from the coast to the Capitol and beyond, with a total cost estimated to exceed $4 billion. Hurricane Hugo, which struck the South Carolina beaches and moved through western North Carolina in September 1989, caused $1 billion in damages in the Tar Heel state and $7 billion overall. Hurricane Hazel, which struck Brunswick County in October 1954, didn't match the dollar damages of Fran, but was a more powerful storm. Hazel was a category four hurricane with winds of 140 mph and a 17 foot storm surge. Hurricane Fran was a category three. The hurricane of September 1883 is believed to have killed more people (53) than any other North Carolina hurricane. Other hurricanes in the past are likely to have equaled or surpassed Hazel's strength, although these cannot be verified due to a lack of sufficient weather data. Some likely candidates include the hurricanes of 1879, 1856, 1769, and 1752. No category five hurricane is known to have made landfall on the North Carolina coast.

[luckydog]

There are tons of others, but you left out my personal worst, which happened after Floyd,...Hurricane Isabel, in 2003. I suspect only because that quote, by Jay Barnes (author of North Carolina's Hurricane History published in 2000) was made before her time.

I've been through so many, but never met one like her ....and I never, ever wanna again.

[luckydog]

I had no idea it was in the direct path of hurricaines..wow

Please do make sure you fully research what moving to an area like this means. It is absolutely nothing to take lightly.

Glad to have been of some help.

[enlightenme]

What do you do in case of a hurricane when you don't live on the coast? For instance, the one that hit Raleigh obviously was a big one. Where do you go to avoid it if it is going that far inland? Do you hide out in your house? Do basements flood? We are leaning more towards relocating to Winston-Salem - has one ever hit there? I imagine the whole state is at risk, but is there better places to be to avoid them?

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by enlightenme

What do you do in case of a hurricane when you don't live on the coast? For instance, the one that hit Raleigh obviously was a big one. Where do you go to avoid it if it is going that far inland? Do you hide out in your house? Do basements flood? We are leaning more towards relocating to Winston-Salem - has one ever hit there? I imagine the whole state is at risk, but is there better places to be to avoid them?

Even though NC is almost 600 miles long, no area is immune from the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms. The only benefit of being inland is that the severity of the storm is normally, but not always, less. Every storm is different. Winston-Salem could still have torrential rain and wind causing flooding around low-lying areas, rivers, and streams. Trees are frequently uprooted by the water-saturated soil and wind causing widespread power outages. These storms can be massive reaching 100's of miles in diameter. Here's a photo of a hurricane over NC. As you can see, the eye is still well off the NC coast but the storm has already engulfed almost the entire state. If you are on the coast, you may also need to deal with tidal surge depending on the ocean tide. The flat terrain of the Coastal Plains is also a good breeding ground for storm-induced tornadoes. The worst odds are for those residents living in the Coastal Plains. The Piedmont Region is next, followed by the Mountain Region.

As a side note, I live in the Asheville area at an elevation of 2,200 feet above sea level. In late August and early September 2004, my area was hit by the remnants of two hurricanes. We had extensive road damage, uprooted trees, some flash flooding and power outages that lasted for days. In addition, some residents were without water because some mountain developments use electric auxiliary pumps to push the water up the side of the mountain to the homesites.

http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/office/newsletters/2004Fall/hurricane.gif (broken link)

[sadiebugmom]

I was in school at Wake Forest U in during Hurricane Hugo & I can tell you that Winston-Salem definitely felt its effects - we had very severe weather with heavy wind & torrential rain; classes were cancelled the day following due to power outages & trees down all over. Like the PP stated, it really all depends on where the storm comes ashore.