North Carolina, 1972

Tornado and Hail in North Carolina, May 15, 1972

May 15, 1972 · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

1 hail, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
4
Property damage
$2.5 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

1 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Durham

When
May 15, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Durham County
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
36.000, -78.900

Tornado, Pitt

When
May 15, 7:58 PM CST
Where
Pitt County
Rating
F3
Path length
8.5 mi
Path width
120 yd
Injuries
4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$2.5 million
Coordinates
35.580, -77.520

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 1972Every state in 1972This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1972

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10089170, 10089171.