Tornado, Wake
- When
- July 12, 1:25 PM EST to 1:31 PM EST
- Where
- Wake County, Cary
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 4.5 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Coordinates
- 35.780, -78.800
Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
A small tornado formed along an outer band of Hurricane Bertha. The hurricane was centered approximately 140 miles to the southeast.
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
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- 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 formed along an outer band of Hurricane Bertha. The hurricane was centered approximately 140 miles to the southeast. The tornado was on the ground about 6 minutes and moved east to west at 50 mph. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. About 10 homes received minor damage due to falling trees.
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:25 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12 to 13, 1996
- Flash Flood in Colorado, July 12, 1996
- High Wind in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Tornado in Virginia, July 12 to 13, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in South Carolina, July 12, 1996
- High Wind in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hail in Colorado, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in South Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12 to 13, 1996
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: 5568369.