EF1 tornado — Carteret County, North Carolina

EF1 tornado in Carteret County, North Carolina

Tornado September 17, 2020 · Carteret County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

0.1 mi

Path length

25 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 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 brief EF1 tornado impacted the town of Merrimon in rural Carteret County. Several pine trees were snapped approximately 10-20 feet above the ground, with most falling across

the tornado path. Dense vegetation inhibited visibility at the start but the ending point is visible with pine trees snapped near the land/marsh interface, with no damage visible across Jonaquin Creek just north of the ending location.

Path width was small, roughly 25 yards, with a length of 0.15 miles,

though as mentioned above, start point is estimated based on visible

tree damage from Periwinkle Court driveway. Maximum wind speeds are

estimated at 90-100 mph due to snapped pine and oak trees.

The wider storm

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Sally moved through the region during the evening and overnight, producing several tornadoes.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 915009. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

EF1 tornado in Carteret County, North Carolina

What the National Weather Service wrote

The wider storm

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address