EF1 Tornado — Catawba, North Carolina

2024-01-09 · near Bandy, Catawba, North Carolina

Event narrative

NWS storm survey found the path of a tornado that touched down near Yount Rd in Claremont, where large tree branches were broken off, before the tornado moved northeast, uprooting trees from Love Rd to Boggs Rd. The tornado appeared to intensify by along Hewitt Rd near McLin Creek, before moving into the Fox Hollow neighborhood. Several trees were uprooted or snapped on Cindi Lane, while several manufactured homes were damaged along Evening Dr. One of these homes, which was tied down but only in shallow holes, rolled over and was partially torn apart. A person inside was killed. The walls of another manufactured home in Fox Hollow were torn away from the floor and undercarriage, and two more suffered major roof or wall damage. Four injuries occurred elsewhere in Fox Hollow, two of which were serious. Several tree trunks were snapped northeast of this location on Old Catawba Rd. At this point, the damage track was lost in a largely inaccessible rural area between Highway 70 and the Catawba River, but the tornado is presumed to have been mostly in contact with the ground, crossing into Iredell County just south of I-40.

Wider weather episode

A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to western North Carolina, mainly during the afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in numerous reports of flooding. Isolated severe thunderstorms also resulted in a number of damaging wind gusts reports over the Piedmont, along with an EF1 tornado that impacted portions of Catawba and Iredell Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6570, -81.1570)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1159053. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.