EF2 Tornado — Davidson, North Carolina

2011-11-16 · near Silver Hill, Davidson, North Carolina

Event narrative

A tornado with a nearly continuous damage path of approximately 12.5 miles was found about 5 miles east of Linwood in Davidson County to about 10 miles northwest of Asheboro in Randolph County. Damage along the path was found to be EF-1 to EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita tornado rating scale, with wind speeds between 90 and 135 mph.

At approximately 6:05 pm EST, the initial tornado touchdown was in the form of snapped and uprooted trees along NC Highway 47, near the Parks Road Intersection. The first occurrence of structural damage was to single family homes in the nearby Silver Ridge Subdivision, off of Allred Road. Roofs were lifted off multiple homes and mostly exterior walls were blown out. This damage was consistent with EF-2 tornado intensity. The roof of one of the homes had been carried about 150 yards into the yard of another home. An outbuilding, whose contents were swept about 50 feet into the side yard adjacent to the home was also completely destroyed. Trees were toppled mostly in toward the center of the track of the tornado. Only minor injuries were noted to residents.

The tornado continued east northeastward to Old Burkhart Road where it blew a trailer a couple of hundred feet downwind, downed power lines, and toppled a tree through a residence. The tornado then tracked through a small community on Meadow Run Lane. Two homes slide off their foundations, including the home where two fatalities occurred when the home slid down the edge of a steep

embankment. An automobile was also blown into an adjacent stand of trees at the top of the embankment. Damage here is consistent with EF-2 tornado intensity.

The tornado traveled east northeastward and caused structural damage mainly in the form of roof damage, to several businesses, including the roofing of a Lowes distribution center, Skippers Seafood Restaurant and a Giddy-Kwik service station. Additionally, a nearby former marine dealer sustained extensive damage when the exterior walls and roof of this building was blown into the adjacent parking lot.

The next structural damage occurred at the Laurel Drive AAA Mobile Home Park. The most significant damage here was a tree toppled through the rear of one of the homes. Another home shifted from the foundation. Tree damage in this area appeared to be more minor than surrounding areas, and damage throughout the mobile home park was consistent with EF-1 intensity.

In total, 60 homes were damaged. Of the 60 homes damaged, 25 homes were destroyed, and at least 5 businesses were destroyed.

Wider weather episode

A full latitude upper level trough approached central North Carolina from the mid-Mississippi Valley region during the afternoon. A surface low tracked across western North Carolina northeast to Danville, VA during the late afternoon and early evening. This low pressure followed a path along a weak low level boundary that had been in place over the western Piedmont of NC. A supercell developed along the front and attendant surface low and tracked northeast from upstate South Carolina into central Davidson and northern Randolph Counties, where it produced an EF-2 tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7321, -80.2103)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 351147. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.