EF1 tornado in Martin County, North Carolina

The National Weather Service in Coordination with Martin County Emergency Management confirmed an EF1 tornado with winds estimated around 90 mph touched down near Hamilton. This tornado developed along a rain band associated with Hurricane Arthur.

The tornado touched down just west of the Roanoke River and tracked west-northwest for about one mile before dissipating. Several large trees were snapped off or blown down. One tree fell on a house and an outbuilding producing about twenty-six thousand dollars of damage. There were no injuries or fatalities associated with this tornado.

Hurricane Arthur is the earliest hurricane to hit North Carolina in a season since records began in 1851. The storm intensified, and by late on the evening of July 3, the system attained its peak winds of 100 mph as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir'Simpson hurricane wind scale. Arthur made landfall at 11:15 pm EDT July 3, over Shackleford Banks, between Cape Lookout and Beaufort, and intensified slightly further. The minimum official pressure of 974.9 millibars or 28.79 inches/mercury was measured on 04/0812 UTC at the Oregon Inlet tide gauge, ORIN7. Highest official winds were registered at Cape Lookout C-MAN station, CLKN7, where maximum sustained winds of 67 knots or 77 mph were recorded at 04/0300 UTC. Peak wind gusts of 88 knots or 101 mph were recorded there as well on 04/0230 UTC. Widespread power outages were reported throughout coastal eastern North Carolina. Official storm surge flooding from 4 to 5 feet above MLLW was observed over the central and northern Outer Banks with portions of NC Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 64 closed in Dare County. The highest official surge 4.5 feet MLLW was reported at Oregon Inlet at 04/1024 UTC. Storm surge value was measured at 7.21 ft MSL by a NWS damage survey team at Rodanthe on Outer Banks Dare County. Arthur produced two destructive EF1 tornadoes, during the evening on July 3rd, which caused an estimated 176 thousand dollars in property damage. Storm surge and hurricane force winds caused an estimated 2.17 million dollars in damages in Dare County, 1.5 million due to storm surge flooding, and 0.67 million dollars in estimated damages due to wind. Damages elsewhere were minimal and not reported. Storm total rainfall averaged between 1.3 to 7.21 inches, highest along the Dare Co. Outer Banks. Heavy rainfall resulted in minor freshwater flooding across the Eastern NC inland Coastal Plains counties and coastal counties from Carteret County on the southern coast through Dare County on the Outer Banks. There were no reported injuries or fatalities.