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EF1 tornado in Wake County, North Carolina

Tornado December 10, 2023 · Wake County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

1.9 mi

Path length

250 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF-1 tornado touched down near Old Stage Road at approximately 12:28 PM EST. The tornado was on the ground for 4 minutes and tracked east-northeastward for approximately 1.9 miles before lifting near United States Highway 70 along 7th Avenue.

Most of the damage was associated with snapped and uprooted trees, and some subsequent building damage due to trees falling on several structures. There we no injuries or fatalities.

The wider storm

A strong upper level trough and cold front moved across the Carolinas, triggering multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms. A cluster of stronger storms moved northeast across the eastern North Carolina Piedmont, producing a Tornado in Wake County and damaging winds across the northeast Piedmont and Coastal Plain.

Began near Mc Cullers (35.6940, -78.6520).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1154262. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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