Severe Thunderstorms on June 25, 2025

News Headlines

Severe thunderstorms brought widespread damaging winds and several reports of large hail to portions of eastern North and South Carolina on June 25, 2025. This severe weather outbreak occurred during a heatwave with 100° inland temperatures and featured unusual storm movement from north to south.

The weather pattern featured an upper-level high across the Mid Atlantic region and an upper-level low across Florida. Record-breaking heat across the Great Lakes earlier in the week shifted into the Northeast, then moved as far south as the Carolinas June 24 and 25. Lumberton, NC recorded back-to-back days with 100° temperatures, the first time this had occurred since July 15-16, 2024.

Cold temperatures aloft associated with the upper-level low across Florida moved across the Carolinas during the day of June 25. With hot weather ongoing at ground level, cold air 3 to 6 miles up led to steep lapse rates and extremely large instability. One measure often used by meteorologists to gauge instability called Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) was analyzed at 5000 to 6000 J/kg, exceptionally large values rarely observed locally.

Mid-level lapse rates during the afternoon of June 25 showed values over 8°C/km present across the Carolinas. This indicates temperatures aloft decreased very quickly.

CAPE values near 5000 J/kg indicate an exceptionally unstable airmass

CAPE analyzed near 5000 J/kg during the afternoon of June 25 indicated an extremely unstable airmass capable of fueling explosive thunderstorm development.

Feeding on the very unstable atmosphere, thunderstorms formed during the afternoon of June 25 and developed strong and very deep updrafts. Reports of large hail were received from St. Pauls and Clarkton, NC. As the cold outflow from these initial storms joined together, the entire mass of thunderstorms began to move south and southwestward into South Carolina producing strong and damaging wind gusts along the way.

Location	Wind Gust
Murrells Inlet, SC (Surfchex)	56 mph
Florence, SC (Airport)	55 mph
Sunset Beach, NC (CORMP buoy)	54 mph
Futch Beach, SC (Weather Underground)	53 mph
Winyah Bay Entrance, SC (Surfchex)	51 mph
Southport, NC (Airport)	48 mph
Whiteville, NC (Airport)	48 mph
Georgetown, SC (Airport)	46 mph
North Myrtle Beach, SC (Airport)	46 mph
Darlington, SC (Airport)	46 mph
Elizabethtown, NC (Airport)	44 mph
Grissettown, NC (Weather Underground)	43 mph
Frying Pan Shoals, NC (NOAA buoy)	43 mph
Conway, SC (Airport)	41 mph

Storm damage near Elizabethtown, NC

Reports of trees blown down and power outages were received from Dublin, Elizabethtown, Clarkton, Whiteville, Nakina, Pireway, and Calabash in North Carolina. In South Carolina damage was reported from Tatum, Hamer, Dovesville, Mont Clare, Darlington, Florence, Green Sea, Loris, Bayboro, Conway, Yauhannah, Oatland, Litchfield Beach, and Georgetown.