EF1 tornado in Carteret County, North Carolina

Tornado May 11, 2008 · Carteret County, North Carolina

EF1

Rating

2.7 mi

Path length

30 yd

Path width

$30K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 30 yards (0.02 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

Tornado touched down west of Brandywine Bay subdivision and tracked east-northeast near Walmart shopping center before lifting northwest of Morehead City. Sporadic damage along path with trees downed and some minor structural damage to buildings. Tornado was rated as an EF1.

The wider storm

Numerous thunderstorms developed near the coast of eastern North Carolina during the late afternoon and evening hours ahead of a cold front. Unstable air ahead of the cold front combined with strong wind shear to produce rotating thunderstorms and several tornadoes were reported near the south coast in parts of Onslow...Jones and Carteret counties.

Began near Newport (34.7322, -76.8500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Onslow County EF0 Onslow County EF0 Carteret County EF0 Carteret County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 95323. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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