EF3 tornado in Wake County, North Carolina

The tornado exited Chatham County and entered southwest Wake County as an EF0. There was multiple tree and roof damage along Avent Ferry Road, southwest of Holly Springs. The tornado intensified to an EF1 with winds of 86 mph as it reached Fire Station Number Two and the Holly Glenn Subdivision before crossing highway 55 and tracking through the Remington subdivision. The tornado continued to track northeastward and caused extensive tree damage and damage to numerous homes, mainly from fallen trees along Pierce Olive, Ten-Ten, Penny Road, and Yates Mill Pond roads, as wind speeds increased to around 100 mph. The tornado crossed Tryon Road, between Lake Wheeler Road and the Raleigh Golf Association Golf Course, before tracking northeast across the entire City of Raleigh, producing EF1 damage in a narrow swath between 50 to 100 yards. It crossed directly over Interstates 40-440, between exits 297 and 298 with damage on both sides of the interstate clearly visible. The tornado continued northeast across South Saunders Street, where 4 businesses were damaged. A body shop was completely destroyed when the roof was ripped off and the side walls collapsed. The tornado continued to snap hardwood trees and power-lines near Mount Hope Cemetery and nearby homes. The tornado weakened as it moved northeast towards Shaw University. Campus dormitories and the university student center had windows blown in with roof damage. The tornado moved northeast along the east side of the major high rise buildings in downtown Raleigh, downing hundreds of trees, many of which fell on houses. The historic Oakwood to Lion`s Park sections of town, including the historic Oakwood Cemetery were hardest hit. Also in the path of the tornado was Saint Augustine`s College, which sustained roof damage to every building on campus. The tornado continued to down trees on numerous homes as it crossed North King Charles Road to Yonkers Road, producing EF1 damage to several businesses. The tornado crossed the 440 beltline for a second time, this time on the northeast side of downtown Raleigh near the intersections of Westinghouse and Brentwood roads, again causing damages to several businesses, including the Raleigh Iceplex. The tornado then strengthened to an EF2 with winds greater than 110 mph as it continued northeast producing extensive tree damage in a 100 to 200 yard wide path from Stony Brook Drive to Buffalo Road. Snapped trees crashed onto and through numerous homes all along the path. Four fatalities occurred when a large tree fell

onto a mobile home. Two other mobile homes were thrown 30 to 50 feet when the tie downs snapped from their anchor points with nearly all of the mobile homes in the Stony Brook mobile home park sustained some type of damage. The EF2 tornado continued to move northeast across Buffalo Road, near the Cardinal Grove Subdivision. Several two story homes were completely destroyed with numerous other homes sustaining moderate to major damage. Damage consistent with an EF2 tornado continued with widespread damage in a 200 yard wide swath along Forestville road. A couple of mobile homes were destroyed and several two story homes suffered extensive roof damage, with continued numerous snapped trees falling on houses. The tornado weakened or lifted as it moved northeast towards Rolesville. Damage became very sporadic and isolated in nature as it neared the Franklin County line. In total, 2270 homes were damaged, including 67 homes that were destroyed, with another 184 homes experiencing major damage. There were also 34 businesses damaged.

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.