Several towns in southeastern North Carolina saw historic rainfall Monday as a potential tropical cyclone ripped through the area. Precipitation in Carolina Beach, along the coast near Wilmington, set an especially striking record. According to the National Weather Service, 18 inches of rain fell over Ocean Boulevard over the course of 12 hours — something that only happens “once every 1,000 years,” meteorologists said.
“Historic rain has fallen across Carolina Beach, Southport, and BSL today,” the weather service in Wilmington wrote in a social media post shared Monday afternoon. “Volunteer gauges have recorded over a foot of rain since midnight.”
Citing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, the weather service noted that 12 inches of rainfall over a 12-hour period only occurs in this area once every 200 years on average. That uncommon threshold was met in a number of places where gauges collected rainfall measurements from midnight Monday through midday.