EF1 tornado in Lenoir County, North Carolina

The damage path started along Plaza Boulevard at the Furniture Fair

where at least 6 large windows were bowed in or blown out. One large AC

unit on top of this store was blown off and toward the parking lot

behind the store. The damage path continued across Boy Scout Boulevard

where a wood power pole was snapped in half, about 6 feet off the

ground. From the store, through the wood power pole, damage in this area

was consistent with estimated winds of between 90 and 100 MPH, peaking

around 100 MPH near the location of the power pole.

The damage continued across Boy Scout Boulevard, where extensive damage

occurred at the Salvation Army store. Almost the entire length of the

eastern side of the building had the wall bowed out due to the strong

winds. A dumpster, which was located across the street at the Post

Office, was blown around 100 yards to this location. Behind the store,

prior to the neighborhood on Darby Avenue, two large, healthy, pine

trees were snapped in half, about 25 feet up from the ground. Winds in

this area were estimated to be between 90 and 100 MPH.

A narrow, concentrated path continued northeast across Darby Avenue.

While most of the damage here continued to be blown toward the

northeast or around 45 degrees, some damage to houses along Darby Avenue

pointed back toward the southwest or 220 degrees, opposite of the storm

path. Debris and damage along the path were indicative of rotation.

Sporadic damage continued across Adkin Branch, through UNC Health Care Lenoir.

The tornado may have weakened some here as it crossed the branch

(creek), with winds estimated to be closer to 80 MPH. The damage path

crossed Airport Road, damaging a sign at the entrance to the hospital,

and then finally causing damage to large sections of the roof at a

medical building across the street. The roof was of higher quality, with

winds here estimated again between 85 and 95 MPH, or consistent with a

EF-1 tornado. More sporadic damage was found before the path ended near

the intersection of North Herritage Street and North Queen Street.

We would like to thank Lenoir County Emergency Services for their help

in conducting the survey today.

A line of thunderstorms moved through Eastern NC during the early afternoon hours. Many instances of wind damage occurred with these storms, A brief embedded EF-1 tornado occurred in Kinston.