EF2 Tornado — Mecklenburg, North Carolina

2012-03-03 · near Wilgrove, Mecklenburg, North Carolina

Event narrative

An NWS Storm Survey found the path of a strong tornado that developed rapidly over eastern portions of the Charlotte metro area during the early morning hours of March 3rd. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Dulin Creek Rd and Little Whiteoak Rd, moving just south of Plaza Rd extension. The tornado affected two subdivisions in Mecklenburg County. Four homes slid off their foundations and were completely destroyed. Twenty-nine homes were rendered uninhabitable from collapsed exterior walls. A total of 162 homes were damaged in the county. Four people were injured in this area. The tornado crossed I-485, just south of Plaza Rd Extension before moving into Cabarrus County. The total path length in Mecklenburg County was a little over 1.5 miles, while the maximum width was 200 yards.

Wider weather episode

Two supercell thunderstorms entered the North Carolina mountains during the evening hours. One of the storms produced a strong tornado in the town of Murphy in Cherokee County. The supercell remained surprisingly strong as it crossed the southern mountains, producing large hail and eventually another weak tornado in Jackson County. Later at night, storms organized into a broken line across Upstate South Carolina. The northern part of the line crossed the southern North Carolina piedmont where it produced a strong, brief tornado on the northeast side of Charlotte. The storm did not exhibit supercell characteristics, and the tornado spun up quite quickly as the line intersected a low level boundary.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.2570, -80.6870)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 371919. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.