EF1 Tornado — Yancey, North Carolina

2023-08-07 · near Spivey Gap, Yancey, North Carolina

Event narrative

NWS storm survey found the path of a rare EF1 tornado that touched down near Highway 19W in the far northern part of Yancey County, a couple of miles from the Tennessee border. The tornado tracked east/southeast, crossing Highway 19 a couple of times, before crossing Huntdale Rd and Horton Hill Rd. The last area of damage found was in the area around Horton Hill Rd and North Bee Branch Rd. Damage was limited to multiple uprooted trees and snapped limbs. This was only the third confirmed tornado to have impacted Yancey County, with the last having occurred on 6 June 1977.

Wider weather episode

Numerous thunderstorms and storm clusters moved across western North Carolina throughout the afternoon. Many of these storms produced severe weather, mainly in the form of damaging wind gusts, some of which were fairly long-lived. A couple of weak tornadoes also developed in the Piedmont, including a long-track EF1.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.0360, -82.4020)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1136770. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.