EF2 Tornado — Rutherford, North Carolina

2012-01-11 · near Ellenboro, Rutherford, North Carolina

Event narrative

A tornado damage path begin near the Ellenboro community, just northeast of the intersection of Pinehurst Rd and Bridge Rd. The track was relatively weak and intermittent for the first mile or so, as it crossed into a wooded area before emerging on Tiney Rd near the Corinth community. The aluminum siding and some roofing was peeled off a shed at this location. The intermittent path continued to the northeast, before becoming more concentrated in the area near Piney Mountain Rd and Piney Mountain Church Rd. The tornado reached its peak intensity as it moved roughly parallel to Piney Mountain Rd, crossing W E Padgett Rd toward Walls Church Rd. Several homes received minor to major damage in this area, while two mobile homes were completely destroyed. Ten people were injured, one seriously. Several outbuildings were also destroyed, while numerous trees and power lines were felled. The tornado began to weaken as it continued northeast, crossing Walls Church Rd and Dycus Rd before lifting just north of Salem Church Rd. The tornado was the first winter tornado in Rutherford County recorded history, and the first significant tornado (F2/EF2 and stronger) to affect the county since 1989.

Wider weather episode

An upper low over the deep south opened up and rapidly crossed the western Carolinas during the evening hours of the 11th. A dry slot associated with the low overspread the region, bringing most of the rain and shower activity to an end during the afternoon hours. However, a small line of thunderstorms developed along the surface cold front over the western Upstate. The southern-most cell in the line began to exhibit mini-supercell characteristics as it moved across the upstate and into the southern foothills of North Carolina. As the storm interacted with the remnants of an old warm frontal boundary, it produced a series of tornadoes over the foothills. To be precise, one mini-supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado in Cleveland County, while a second mini-supercell rapidly strengthened just east of the first storm. This second went on to produce tornadoes in Burke and Caldwell Counties. Effective bulk shear in the region where the tornadoes occurred ranged from 40 to 50 kts with MUCAPE values of around 500 j/kg.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.3510, -81.7940)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 360514. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.