Tornado, Burke
- When
- April 3, 7:00 AM CST
- Where
- Burke County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 6.9 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 35.750, -81.700
Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, April 3, 1974
6 tornado, 4 hail, 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 6
- Injuries
- 37
- Property damage
- $25 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 10
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
6 tornado, 4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Transylvania
- When
- April 3, 3:00 PM CST
- Where
- Transylvania County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 30 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 35.120, -82.830
Tornado, Cherokee
- When
- April 3, 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cherokee County
- Rating
- F1
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 35.050, -83.950
Hail, Gaston
- When
- April 3, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Gaston County
- Measured
- 4.5 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.270, -81.180
Hail, Mecklenburg
- When
- April 3, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Mecklenburg County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.230, -80.850
Hail, Graham
- When
- April 3, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Graham County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.400, -83.820
Tornado, Graham
- When
- April 3, 6:05 PM CST
- Where
- Graham County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 10.5 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 11 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 35.270, -83.980
Tornado, Swain
- When
- April 3, 6:15 PM CST
- Where
- Swain County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 13.6 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 35.330, -83.820
Tornado, Cherokee
- When
- April 3, 7:25 PM CST
- Where
- Cherokee County
- Rating
- F4
- Path length
- 18.9 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Deaths
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 26 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25 million
- Coordinates
- 34.970, -84.220
Hail, Transylvania
- When
- April 3, 8:50 PM CST
- Where
- Transylvania County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.270, -82.720
What these are
- 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.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Ohio, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Michigan, April 3, 1974
- Tornado and Hail in Mississippi, April 3, 1974
- Tornado in New York, April 3, 1974
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 3, 1974
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, April 3, 1974
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1974Every state in 1974This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1974
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: 10089842, 10089843, 10089844, 10089845, 10089846, 10089847, 10089848, 10089849, 10089850, 10089851.