EF1 tornado in Caswell County, North Carolina

Tornado April 16, 2011 · Caswell County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

10.7 mi

Whole path

300 yd

Path width

$980K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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 crossed the Caswell County line from Alamance County as an EF0 tornado. It then strengthened to an EF1 with winds up to 90 MPH as it crossed Vinson Road. It lifted as an EF0 as it crossed Highway 119 near Baynes. In total, 18 barns and 1 shed were damaged. Ten homes were also damaged, 7 of which received severe damage.

The wider storm

A strong closed upper level low pressure moved across the Ohio valley, producing a variety of extreme weather across northwest North Carolina. In advance of the system, strong southeast winds produced wind damage across the higher elevations. These southeast winds also provided strong upslope lifting along the Blue Ridge mountains,

which produced heavy rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches. This resulted in areas of flash flooding. Enough heating occurred out ahead of the cold front on the 16th to produce severe thunderstorms. These storms produced widespread wind damage and one tornado.

Began near Anderson (36.2460, -79.3558).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 301037. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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