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F1 tornado in Wake County, North Carolina

Tornado April 15, 1996 · Wake County, North Carolina

F1
Rating
5.0 mi
Whole path
50 yd
Path width
31
Injuries
$4.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Wake County → Franklin County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Wendell (35.7800, -78.3800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5556980. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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