EF2 tornado in Guilford County, North Carolina

The tornado initially touched down on the north side of I-40 near

where Willow Road crosses I-40. Damage at this point consisted of

snapped trees and was consistent with 90 mph wind speeds, or EF-1 on

the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The tornado remained on the ground as it traveled north toward

Peeler Elementary School. Numerous homes in this area were damaged

along with substantial tree damage. The tornado wind speeds at this

location were estimated to be approximately 100 mph.

The tornado continued traveling north and reached a peak intensity

and maximum path width in the Hampton Community and near Hampton

Elementary School. At this school a large portion of the roof was

blown off and three adjacent portable classroom buildings

(manufactured buildings) were completely destroyed and leveled. The

damage to the main school building was consistent with wind speeds

around 110 mph (DI 15/DOD 6), while the damage to the adjacent

portable units was consistent with wind speeds of 135 mph (DI 4/DOD

12), which is a high-end EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. It s

worth noting that the neighborhoods adjacent to this school

experienced a wide and substantial path of devastation which

included snapped and uprooted trees, snapped power poles, homes that

were pushed off of their foundation, numerous homes that lost most

or all of their roof cover, and several homes with exterior walls

blown out. The survey found the width of the tornado, and

particularly the width of the EF1 and EF2 wind speeds, contributed

to a particularly wide path of destruction.

The tornado then continued north-northeast and mostly remained on

the ground all the way to the Guilford/Rockingham County line. Along

the way, the damage consisted mostly of snapped and uprooted trees,

and roof and siding damage to several additional homes. The tornado

appeared to produce minor tree damage (with wind speeds 80 mph or

less) just before crossing into Rockingham County.

Finally, the aforementioned path length (16 miles) consists of just

the Guilford County path. The tornado continued into Rockingham

County, and remained on the ground for an additional 17.6 miles.

A strong upper low moved from Iowa across the Lower Great Lakes region, with a deep trough taking on a negative tilt while swinging into North Carolina. An associated strong cold front approached western North Carolina that afternoon and pushed east and east-northeast across central North Carolina on the night of the 15th. A strengthening and backing flow at all levels led to a surge of moisture into NC. Moderate instability, strong deep layer shear, and high low-level storm-relative helicity were also present. The result was a quasi-linear convective system with embedded mesovortices, which produced widespread severe weather, including a tornado in Greensboro, as it moved through North Carolina.