EF1 Tornado — Onslow, North Carolina

2024-05-24 · near Verona, Onslow, North Carolina

Event narrative

The damage path started east of Highway 17 and Verona, along

Verona Road near Mill Run where the worst of the damage occurred.

Multiple softwood trees were snapped and were blown across Verona

Road making it nearly impassable. It is here that maximum wind

gusts were estimated to be around 90 MPH or consistent with a low

end EF-1 tornado.

Sporadic damage continued eastward along Verona Road to near the

intersection with Rhodes Point Road. Most of this damage consisted

of smaller branches, but a few larger branches were found across

the the road. The damage path could not be surveyed farther east

toward New River due to the road being closed with power lines

being repaired. Winds were estimated to be between 60 and 75 MPH

in these areas.

East of New River the a sporadic path continued southeast toward

Marines Road. Here multiple smaller trees were snapped, with

larger branches blown down especially along and north of Marines

Road. Several uprooted trees were found just west of the

intersection of Marines Road and TLZ Jaybird Road. Near the

location of the uprooted trees, winds were estimated to have

peaked between 75 and 80 MPH.

The damage path crossed Marines Road and ended just southeast of

the intersection of Marines Road and TLZ Jaybird Road, along a

dirt road.

Wider weather episode

An area of thunderstorms moved through the region during the afternoon through early evening hours. Some of the storms became severe, producing damaging wind gusts, with winds of up to nearly 70 mph, and hail up to golf ball size. A brief EF-1 tornado touched down near the community of Verona.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.6730, -77.4540)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1172120. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.