Hurricane season
Surfside Beach hurricane season by month and strength
From 1950 through 2024, 58 tropical systems passed within 60 miles of Surfside Beach.
This page states a past record, not a forecast.
The radius measures from the town center at 33.6039, -78.975. A system counts once, in the month of its closest approach. September carries 19 systems, more than any other month.
Aircraft and satellite coverage arrived later, so the earliest seasons undercount.
Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 Atlantic best track file (opens in a new tab), checked August 18, 2026.
Systems by month
| Month | Systems |
|---|---|
| January | 0 |
| February | 0 |
| March | 0 |
| April | 0 |
| May | 4 |
| June | 12 |
| July | 7 |
| August | 9 |
| September | 19 |
| October | 5 |
| November | 2 |
| December | 0 |
Systems by strength
HURDAT2 records the sustained wind in knots, and one knot is 1.15 miles per hour. Each system takes the class of its wind at the closest approach.
| Strength | Sustained wind | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical depression | 0 to 33 knots | 16 |
| Tropical storm | 34 to 63 knots | 30 |
| Category 1 hurricane | 64 to 82 knots | 5 |
| Category 2 hurricane | 83 to 95 knots | 4 |
| Category 3 hurricane | 96 to 112 knots | 1 |
| Category 4 hurricane | 113 to 136 knots | 2 |
| Category 5 hurricane | 137 knots or more | 0 |
Hurricane-strength systems
12 of the 58 systems reached hurricane strength at the closest approach.
| System | Year | Month | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel | 1954 | October | Category 4 hurricane |
| Helene | 1958 | September | Category 4 hurricane |
| Donna | 1960 | September | Category 2 hurricane |
| Diana | 1984 | September | Category 1 hurricane |
| Bertha | 1996 | July | Category 2 hurricane |
| Fran | 1996 | September | Category 3 hurricane |
| Floyd | 1999 | September | Category 2 hurricane |
| Charley | 2004 | August | Category 1 hurricane |
| Matthew | 2016 | October | Category 1 hurricane |
| Dorian | 2019 | September | Category 2 hurricane |
| Isaias | 2020 | August | Category 1 hurricane |
| Ian | 2022 | September | Category 1 hurricane |