EF2 Tornado — Burke, North Carolina

2012-01-11 · near Burke Chapel, Burke, North Carolina

Event narrative

This tornado touched down near George Hildebrand School Rd, felling trees and causing minor roof damage to several homes. The tornado continued northeast from there, along an intermittent path. The damage path became more concentrated as it moved across Paige St, continuing to down trees as well as causing minor roof damage to homes and outbuildings. The tornado rapidly intensified as it approached the South Fork community, crossing Rock Lane, River Rock Dr, and South Fork Ave. Dozens of homes were damaged in this area, with some mobile homes completely destroyed, and most of the roofing removed from some frame houses. Eight people were injured in this area. The tornado began to weaken as it moved northeast from there, causing mainly sporadic tree and minor structural damage along Old Britain Rd and Old Highway 10 before lifting near I-40. A total of 168 structures were damaged or destroyed in the county. This was the first winter tornado in Burke County history. It was only the second reported significant tornado (EF2/F2 and stronger) to have affected the county, and the first since 1979.

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 → (35.6590, -81.4850)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 360515. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.