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EF1 tornado in Cherokee County, North Carolina

Tornado May 8, 2024 · Cherokee County, North Carolina

EF1
Rating
2.3 mi
Path length
40 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 40 yards (0.02 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

A survey found EF-1 tornado damage, with peak winds of 95 mph. Pockets of extensive tree damage were noted near and around the Peachtree community. The tornado likely developed near Greenlawn Cemetery Road and Memory Lane. It continued east across Upper Peachtree Road causing some tree damage on Lizzie Elliot Road. The tornado took a slight northeast jog and was non-continuous throughout its life cycle. It crossed Sky Trek Drive and Shadow Pond Road. The tornado lifted before crossing Upper Peachtree Road again. Numerous trees were either uprooted or snapped along the path, along with numerous large tree limbs.

The wider storm

A cutoff low over the North Plains, coupled with intense winds aloft and a cold front at the surface, helped spawn multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds and a tornado in southwest North Carolina.

Began near Peachtree (35.0917, -83.9532).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1178379. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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