EF1 tornado in Sampson County, North Carolina

Tornado April 19, 2019 · Sampson County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

10.1 mi

Whole path

125 yd

Path width

$1.1M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Sampson County → Johnston County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 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

A tornado touched down in the Spivey's Corner area of northwest Sampson County. Damage there consisted of numerous snapped and uprooted trees, downed power poles and power lines, tossed outdoor furniture, and minor damage to the roof of at least one home. A group of four abandoned chicken houses were destroyed.

The wider storm

A deepening upper-level trough, which featured a strong polar jet ejecting northeast atop an eastward advancing cold front, brought severe thunderstorms that produced

7 tornadoes and widespread damaging straight-line winds across central NC. The strongest tornado of the day in North Carolina formed in southwestern Orange County and reached EF-2 strength as it neared Hillsborough. Along its path estimated at 12 miles long and a maximum of 600 yards wide, the roof and exterior walls of one home were reported as completely destroyed.

Began near Midway (35.1913, -78.5071).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Orange County EF1 Chatham County EF1 Edgecombe County EF1 Nash County EF1 Halifax County EF1 Moore County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 820432. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.