EF2 Tornado — Halifax, North Carolina

2011-04-16 · near Halifax Co Arpt, Halifax, North Carolina

Event narrative

A tornado touched down southwest of Roanoke Rapids near Rhea Smith Road. At Sam Powell Dam Road a house was shifted off of its foundation. The tornado then entered Roanoke Rapids as an EF1. Numerous hardwood trees were blown down. Numerous cars and homes were damaged at Rosemary Street. As the tornado continued into downtown, an industrial building and Sonic restaurant were damaged. The tornado reached EF2 intensity at this point. The worst damage occurred at 10th Street. In total, 90 structures were damaged. Of those 90, 15 homes and businesses were destroyed. The tornado continued into Northhampton County of the Wakefield WFO warning area.

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system that had a history of producing deadly tornadoes across Oklahoma and the deep south on the 14th and 15th weakened as it crossed the southern Appalachians during the early morning hours of the 16th. A squall line descended the Blue Ridge by the late morning hours, and rapidly intensified

as it moved east into the central Piedmont of North Carolina, with four long live tornadic supercells evolving from the linear convective segment. These tornadic supercells went on to produce 9 tornadoes in the Raleigh CWA, including 2 EF3s, and 4 EF2s. The tornadoes left 8 dead with approximately 275 injuries.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.4152, -77.7031)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 296274. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.