EF3 Tornado — Nash, North Carolina

2023-07-19 · near Dortches, Nash, North Carolina

Event narrative

The remnants of a Mesoscale Convective Vortex initiated a tornadic supercell on its southeastern quadrant as it quickly moved into the northern Coastal Plain early Wednesday morning. The tornado initially touched down southwest of Dortches, NC where power poles were bent and hardwoods snapped at the trunk were observed. The

tornado crossed I-95 just north of exit 138 and produced widespread tree damage on both sides of I-95 and in the median. As it moved into the municipality of Dortches the first instances of EF-2 damage was observed as it entered into a neighborhood

comprised of single-wide units. Multiple single-wide homes were completely destroyed and removed 20-30 yards from their foundation. As the tornado continued along its east-northeast path, a row of 10-15 power poles were snapped and laid out across South Browntown Road, continuing the path of EF-2 damage. Farther to the northeast, the tornado ripped across North Carolina Highway 48 where more power poles were snapped at the base and a residence building suffered major damage as all exterior walls had collapsed with only interior walls and a brick fireplace remained standing. The

tornado then progressed into the Belmont Lake Golf Club where it strengthened into an EF-3 tornado with winds of 140-150 mph. The tornado flattened a metal truss tower connected to the electrical transmission line as well as caused significant damage to a metal warehouse building. Additionally, semi-trucks were flipped and destroyed that where located in a large parking lot near the warehouse.

Wider weather episode

An old thunderstorm complex moving across the area from the prior evening of the 18th entered a more favorable environment by midday and developed a tornado that tracked several miles over the northern Coastal Plain of central NC. Numerous reports of damage to trees and structures confirmed the tornado as it moved from near Nashville, North Carolina to near Battleboro, North Carolina, Continuing northeast to Scotland Neck. The Tornado produced EF3 damage, with up to 150 mph. Additionally, a boundary over the Sandhills to southern Coastal Plain brought several reports of downed trees and powerlines, along with isolated flash flooding in Cumberland County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.0009, -77.8778)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1128943. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.