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EF1 tornado in Union County, North Carolina

Tornado May 24, 2017 · Union County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

8.1 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Lancaster County, South Carolina → Union 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 EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

NWS storm survey found a weak tornado tracked northeast from Lancaster County, SC into Union County in a rural area west of South Rocky River Rd. Two walls and much of the roof was blown off a barn off in this area, which was the most significant damage associated with the tornado. Otherwise, damage was primarily confined to numerous downed trees, damage or destruction to multiple outbuildings, and minor structural damage to multiple homes as the tornado tracked northeast, lifting near Joe Collins Rd.

The wider storm

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms developed in advance of a cold front across western North Carolina during the afternoon. Multiple severe storms produced isolated tornadoes, with a couple of strong tornadoes impacting the northwest Piedmont. Sporadic wind damage occurred across the remainder of the area.

Began near Alton (34.8190, -80.6320).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Iredell County EF2 Davie County EF0 Iredell County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 702815. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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