EF0 tornado in Caldwell County, North Carolina

The same thunderstorm that produced a strong tornado in eastern Burke County produced a brief, weak tornado in the Lake Hickory area. Several pine trees were snapped and several boats and a dock flipped over on the lake. Minor roof damage also occurred at a marina.

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.