F1 Tornado — Wake, North Carolina

1996-04-15 · near Wendell, Wake, North Carolina

Wider weather episode

The second is a series of three tornadoes began about 100 yards to the SE of where the first tornado began (off Hwy 64 in Wendell). The storm was initially less than 25 yards wide asit moved NNE and twisted trees and blew shingles off several houses. About one half mile from the initial touchdown, the storm widened to 50 yards as it approached the town of Zebulon. Trees were downed and the roof was blown off a brick home near the railroad tracks. Another home and a manufactured home were damaged as the storm crossed a street and moved up a hill. The storm then preceded over and down the hill into a mobile home park. Damage was extensive to all the trailers in the park that were directly in the path. The storm continued moving NNE into downtown Zebulon where it downed numerous large trees. Houses in the direct path of the storm were all brick and sustained only roof damage. The Zebulon Middle School sustained major roof damage to the main building. The tornado was last noted at Karial and Old Bunn Roads where minor damage occurred to a frame house and severel trees were twisted.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7800, -78.3800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5556980. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.