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EF1 tornado in Dare County, North Carolina

Tornado April 16, 2011 · Dare County, North Carolina

EF1
Rating
2.7 mi
Whole path
250 yd
Path width
$807K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Currituck County → Dare County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 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 developed near the sound in the Four Seasons subdivision, then moved northeast across the community of Duck before exiting into the ocean. The tornado was estimated to be an EF1 with winds around 90 mph. About 75 structures were damaged mostly minor to roofs and siding. Several large pines were toppled and damaged homes.

The wider storm

One of the largest tornado outbreaks ever observed across eastern North Carolina occurred during the afternoon and evening of April 16th 2011. Several powerful super-cell thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front. Conditions ahead of the front were favorable for tornadoes with a moderately unstable atmosphere combined with strong winds that veered with height. Altogether 12 tornadoes were reported across the Newport/Morehead City county warning area. These tornadoes combined to produce over 40 million dollars in damages. There were numerous injuries but no fatalities were reported. In addition to the tornadoes there were several reports of damaging winds and large hail.

Began near Duck (36.1590, -75.7524).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Lenoir CountyEF3 Onslow CountyEF2 Jones CountyEF2 Craven CountyEF1 Pitt CountyEF1 Tyrrell CountyEF0 Duplin CountyEF0 Duplin CountyEF0 Martin CountyEF0 Craven CountyEF0 Beaufort CountyEF0 Pamlico County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 292038. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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