TornadoLookup

Home / North Carolina / Gates

EF0 tornado in Gates County, North Carolina

Tornado February 6, 2020 · Gates County, North Carolina

EF0
Rating
3.0 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
$100K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

Initial straight line wind damage was noted along Highway 13 just north of the Chowan River. Wind damage continued east along Sandbank Road east of Highway 13. The EF-0 tornado touched down just east of Eure near Taylor Mill Road and Askew Road. The tornado intensity increased as it crossed Turner Road snapping numerous trees with one of the trees falling on a home. The tornado then crossed Highway 158 just west of Highway 37 snapping and uprooting numerous trees. A roof was blown off a home along Highway 158 and some chicken houses were damaged. The tornado lifted off the ground at Highway 37 just north of Highway 158. Straight line wind damage did continue with damage to metal building structures along Cotton Gin Road.

The wider storm

Scattered severe thunderstorms well in advance of strong low pressure and a cold front produced damaging winds and one tornado across portions of northeast North Carolina.

Began near Eure (36.4298, -76.8200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 874764. 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.