EF1 Tornado — Pamlico, North Carolina

2020-08-03 · near Kennel Beach, Pamlico, North Carolina

Event narrative

A tornado associated with Hurricane Isaias formed just offshore in the

Neuse River, and then moved over a small waterfront community in Kennel

Beach, with one large pine tree snapped that fell on a home along Pine

Road. The tornado produced additional tree damage along Live Oak Road

and Pecan Lane as it moved NNW towards swamps and forested lands.

Another area of snapped pine trees was found along a rural logging road

off South Goose Creek Road. The tornado then continued NW, producing an

area of enhanced tree damage to hardwoods and softwoods along the western

end of Goose Creek Road in Grantsboro. It should be noted that the tornado

likely lifted and descended during its path through western Pamlico County

before dissipating over swampy areas of Cypress Creek upstream of Goose

Creek.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Isaias originated from a vigorous tropical wave off the coast of Africa that was first identified by the National Hurricane Center on July 23, 2020. The tropical wave gradually became more organized, and became Tropical Storm Isaias on July 30. Isaias marked the earliest ninth named storm on record, surpassing 2005's Hurricane Irene by eight days. Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane the next day, reaching a peak intensity of 85 mph. On August 1, the storm made landfall on North Andros, Bahamas and subsequently weakened to a tropical storm before paralleling the east coast of Florida and Georgia. As it approached the Carolina coastline, it re-intensified to a hurricane shortly before making landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, at 11:10 PM EDT on August 3 as a Category 1 hurricane, and proceeded to accelerate up the East Coast of the United States. Across eastern North Carolina, Isaias produced tropical storm force winds, pockets of heavy rainfall, minor storm surge and tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.0238, -76.8986)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 909032. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.