EF1 tornado in Person County, North Carolina

Tornado March 28, 2010 · Person County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

4.0 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$250K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

The tornado initially touched down as a EF0 with wind speeds rated 70 to 80 mph along Fire Tower Road near Moores Mill Road in extreme southwest Person County. The tornado then moved northeast crossing Helena-Moriah Road. Numerous trees were sheared off a quarter to halfway up.

The tornado continued to move northeast where it struck a subdivision off Stoney Mountain Road. Several trees were twisted off and uprooted. Two modular homes sustained damage when trees fell on them. The worst damage occurred as the tornado moved northeast across Medford Oakley Road. Numerous Pines and Hardwoods were snapped off and uprooted. A modular home was also moved off its foundation. The tornado reached EF1 strength here with estimated winds of 90 to 100 mph.

The tornado then moved into a wooded area where it produced minor damage to an old barn before dissipating.

The wider storm

Convection developed ahead of an amplified upper trough across the Tennessee Valley

while a strong southerly mid and upper level jet provided strong shear across the region. Tornadoes formed and track ahead of a developing surface low across Georgia and along a wedge front located across the western Piedmont of NC.

Began near Mt Tirzah (36.2677, -78.9007).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Guilford County EF2 Davidson County EF1 Davidson County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 218502. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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