EF2 tornado in Alleghany County, North Carolina

Tornado May 8, 2009 · Alleghany County, North Carolina

EF2

Rating

4.9 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$200K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 low end EF-2 tornado touched down on Osee Road and was intermittently on the ground approximately 5 miles moving east-southeast, finally lifting between Old Barrett Road and Glade Valley Road.

A single wide mobile home was destroyed on Osee Road, causing four injuries. Along the track, cement silos were collapsed, 5 other homes were damaged, and several other structures were heavily damaged. Two people received minor injuries when struck by debris after winds blew out windows in their home. Monetary damages are estimates.

The wider storm

A thunderstorm complex over Kentucky and Tennessee moved east into the area during the evening of May 8th. The storm environment was such that storms would have rotation due to strong wind shear, and a low level boundary in place. Supercells developed over southeast Kentucky and moved southeast into far southwest Virginia and into northwest North Carolina during the late evening of May 8th. One storm produced an EF-2 tornado in Northern Alleghany County, with another brief EF-1 tornado touching down just south of the EF-2 track.

Began near Blevins Xrds (36.5601, -81.0410).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Alleghany County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 172055. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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