EF3 Tornado — Wilson, North Carolina

2008-11-15 · near Wilson, Wilson, North Carolina

Event narrative

The tornado occurred along a discontinuous, approximately eight-mile path that began with minor roof damage to a dwelling and a snapped tree along Harrison drive just south of Ward Boulevard. The most significant damage was then noted to the northeast, along London Church Road, south of Route 1330. On London Church Road, one home was completely destroyed and swept off of its foundation. Based on eyewitness accounts and the damage, fire and rescue estimate the home rolled as many as four times. In this home, there was unfortunately one fatality and two injuries.

Across the road from this home to the northeast, the upper portion of a home was destroyed, and another home had a roof completely blown away with trees on top of it. In this latter home, eyewitness accounts noted there were two more injuries, conditions unknown.

The tornado then followed a discontinuous path into Elm City. There were numerous indications of tree damage in elm city with a porch roof blown off, and outbuildings damaged or toppled. Finally, the last noticeable damage was observed along route 1400, and just north of the intersection of Hefner Road and Route 1402, where small clusters of trees were snapped and outbuildings were damaged. The damage in and northeast of Elm City was consistent with EF-0 damage.

Wider weather episode

Two mini-supercells tracked northeast along a warm front during the early morning hours of the 15th. The two supercells spawned several tornadoes in Samspon, Johnston, and Wilson counties, two of which resulted in two fatalities.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7532, -77.9195)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 135143. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.