F1 tornado in Iredell County, North Carolina

Tornado November 15, 2006 · Iredell County, North Carolina

Rating

6.0 mi

Path length

40 yd

Path width

Death

Injury

$110K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 40 yards (0.02 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

NWS survey found an intermittent damage track consistent with a tornado. Damage was mainly limited to trees, although fallen trees severely damaged several mobile homes on Bell Farm Rd at Dogwood Estates. A metal garage was also destroyed on highway 64. The most significant damage occurred near the end of the track, on Fraley Rd.

One mobile home was completely destroyed. Another mobile home was flipped off its foundation and another shifted several feet. A 62-year-old man was severely injured in one of the homes when a refigerator fell on him. He died on December 3 due to complications from the injuries.

The wider storm

A narrow line of showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front during the evening hours of November 15th. As the line moved into North Carolina a series of tornadoes formed along a break in the line. In all, four tornadoes touched down from the east side of Gastonia to a few miles east of Statesville. The strongest tornado produced a small area of F2 damage. One person later died from injuries suffered in the last tornado in Iredell County. Areas of damaging straight line winds also occurred in other parts of the line.

Began near Statesville (35.7523, -80.8177).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F2 Lincoln County F1 Gaston County F0 Lincoln County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 6054. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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