TornadoLookup

Home / North Carolina / Brunswick

EF3 tornado in Brunswick County, North Carolina

Tornado February 15, 2021 – February 16, 2021 · Brunswick County, North Carolina

EF3
Rating
21.9 mi
Path length
275 yd
Path width
3
Deaths
10
Injuries
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 275 yards (0.16 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

The tornado touched down near the intersection of Old Georgetown Road SW and Angel Trace Road as an EF-0, where a couple of pine trees were snapped and several large limbs were broken. It moved to the northeast across a forest, then rapidly intensified to an EF-2 as it approached Hwy 904. A large portion of a roof was blown off a metal building on the west side of 904, several RVs were rolled over, and several large pine trees were snapped. The tornado crossed Hwy 904, snapped numerous trees and caused moderate damage to a large metal building and church.

The tornado entered the Ocean Ridge Plantation neighborhood with wind speeds up to 125 mph. Hundreds of trees were snapped, and many homes sustained minor to moderate damage. It crossed Rosebury Court SW, then strengthened to its maximum intensity of 160 mph (EF-3), as it approached Cambria Court SW. Two homes were completely destroyed in this area, and several more sustained moderate to major damage. The tornado reached its maximum path width of 275 yards as it moved across Windsor Circle, although maximum winds decreased to 115 mph (EF2). Many homes sustained moderate to major damage, hundreds of large trees were snapped, and one automobile was observed rolled on its side.

It crossed Hwy 17 as an EF-1, then re-intensified to an EF-2, causing major damage to several homes and snapping hundreds of trees along Green Bay Road NW and Old Shallote Road NW. The tornado continued to produce a near continuous path of tree damage through forest and swamp land, across Hwy 130 and Highway 211, confirmed by helicopter overflight. The tornado lifted approximately three miles east of highway 211 after passing west of the Bear Pen Airstrip.

The wider storm

Strong low pressure and a cold front produced an EF-3 tornado.

Began near Grissettown (33.9118, -78.5096).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 945569. 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.