EF2 Tornado — Burke, North Carolina

2017-10-23 · near (hky)hickory Muni Ar, Burke, North Carolina

Event narrative

NWS storm survey found the path of a strong tornado that began at the Hickory Regional Airport. A hangar at the airport was destroyed and several aircraft flipped. The tornado moved northeast to Winkler Park, damaging part of L.P. Frans stadium before moving into Catawba County. Numerous trees were also blown down in this area.

Wider weather episode

A band of rain showers along and ahead of a strong cold front quickly intensified during the afternoon across Upstate South Carolina, then moved quickly northeast into the North Carolina foothills and far western Piedmont. Multiple severe and/or tornadic thunderstorms developed within the line, with multiple tornadoes, some of which were quite strong, reported across the area. This was the second tornado outbreak to impact the this area in just over two weeks, and for the most part, the same counties that were impacted on October 8th were once again affected on the 23rd. Meanwhile, moderate to heavy rain falling throughout the morning hours, followed by a brief period of intense rainfall associated with the band of rain showers resulted in areas of flooding and flash flooding near the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7430, -81.3900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 723700. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.