EF2 Tornado — Sampson, North Carolina

2024-08-07 · near Newtons Xrds, Sampson, North Carolina

Event narrative

A weak EF-0 tornado touched down in far northern Pender county before crossing into Sampson County along Willard Road. Multiple tree limbs and skinny hardwood trucks were found snapped as it crossed into a field where corn stalks were laid out in a wavy

convergent path. The tornado continued on the ground northwest to US-421 achieving EF-1 strength, causing minor roof damage to a one-story residence, snapping a softwood tree in addition to several small 1-3 inch branches. After traversing a vast canopy of thick tree coverage and little road access, it reemerged and crossed over Wildcat Road and Bland School Road where it strengthened into a low-end EF-2 and caused significant damage to multiple well constructed residences. The first was on the

western flank of the circulation and ripped off a portions of the tin roof and scattered personal belongings into the front yard in addition to snapping thick 1-2 foot branches from a large hardwood tree. The second house suffered multiple windows being blown in and likely was the initiating factor in blowing of 50% of a well attached roof and displacing it in the corn field behind the residence. The tornado continued for roughly another 0.5 miles through an open field and lifted before reaching Belvin Maynard

Road.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Depression Debby slowly made its way through Florida, off the South Carolina coast, then back inland through the western Piedmont of North Carolina during the evening hours of 8 August 2024. Ahead of the storm, numerous feeder bands brought periods of heavy rain to central North Carolina, resulting in widespread 4-6 inch rainfall amounts across the western Piedmont, with higher amounts to the east. In addition, numerous tornadoes occurred with this event, with one on 7 August and an additional 6 on 8 August including a rare EF-3 tropical cyclone tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.6834, -78.1485)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1208445. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.