EF0 tornado in Columbus County, North Carolina

Tornado April 16, 2011 · Columbus County, North Carolina

EF0

Rating

0.2 mi

Path length

25 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 tornado was captured on video by a trained spotter 6 miles southwest of Clarkton, North Carolina at 533 pm EDT on 4/16/11. The tornado formed about one-quarter mile north of the intersection of Highway 701 and 131. The tornado quickly formed and dissipated in an open field near Highway 701. A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team investigated, but found no damage. After the team viewed the video and collaborated with the spotter who observed the tornado, they estimated the tornado had a path length of near one-quarter of a mile and a maximum path width of 25 yards. The tornado was rated EF0 with winds to 70 mph.

The wider storm

A powerful storm system that had moved across the deep south during previous days, swept across the eastern Carolinas during the afternoon and evening hours. Instability and shear values were highly supportive of super-cell thunderstorms. The result was a large outbreak of severe weather including strong and deadly tornadoes across eastern North Carolina.

Began near Rico (34.4216, -78.7303).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Bladen County 3 dead EF2 Bladen County 1 dead EF1 Robeson County EF1 Robeson County EF1 Columbus County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 300636. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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