North Carolina, 1996

Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 1996

July 12, 1996 · NWS RAH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A small tornado cut a clear path through the woods north of Buckhorn reservoir near state road 581. Trees were broken, twisted, and uprooted.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS RAH wrote it up.

A small tornado cut a clear path through the woods north of Buckhorn reservoir near state road 581. Trees were broken, twisted, and uprooted.

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Wilson

When
July 12, 12:30 PM EST to 12:32 PM EST
Where
Wilson County, Buckhorn Reservoir
Rating
F0
Path length
0.3 mi
Path width
50 yd
Coordinates
35.700, -78.120

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1996Warnings in North Carolina, July 1996

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: 5568368.