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F2 tornado in Franklin County, North Carolina

Tornado April 15, 1996 · Franklin County, North Carolina

F2
Rating
5.0 mi
Whole path
400 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 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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 storm moved into Franklin county and destroyed a cement block building 1 mile SW of the community of Pilot. The storm then crossed over Hwy 64 where numerous trees were twisted and downed. Several outbuildings were also destroyed. The storm then entered Pilot where the damage path reached 250 yards across.A frame house was rotated, lifted off its foundation, and moved 30 feet. Cars were thrown into a local farm pond along with other debris. As the tornado left Pilot and approached HWY 39, the tornado reached it greatest width of nearly 400 yards. Damage was evident at every home in its path. The storm then weakened before it moved into Nash county.

Began near Pilot (35.8800, -78.2700).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5556981. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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