Tornado, Wilson
- When
- May 1, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Wilson County, Wilson
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $70,000
- Coordinates
- 35.730, -77.920
Tornado in North Carolina, May 1, 1997
A SMALL TORNADO TOOK DOWN NUMEROUS TREES ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH OF WILSON, ALONG TILGHMAN ROAD AND LONGLEAF DRIVE. THE TREES DAMAGED THE ROOFS OF 15 HOMES AND 10 VEHICLES.
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
- $70,000
- 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 TOOK DOWN NUMEROUS TREES ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH OF WILSON, ALONG TILGHMAN ROAD AND LONGLEAF DRIVE. THE TREES DAMAGED THE ROOFS OF 15 HOMES AND 10 VEHICLES. THE TORNADO DEVELOPED ALONG THE EDGE OF A GUST FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM. THIS TYPE OF TORNADO IS FREQUENTLY CALLED A GUSTNADO. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE FUNNEL EXISTED FOR ONLY 3 MINUTES.TREE DAMAGE WAS ALSO NOTED IN OTHER AREAS OF NORTHERN WILSON COUNTY.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, May 1 to 29, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 1, 1997
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, May 1, 1997
- Drought in Texas, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Flooding in Idaho, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Ohio, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Flooding in Montana, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, May 1, 1997
- Flooding in Louisiana, May 1 to 9, 1997
- Flooding in Texas, May 1 to 9, 1997
- High Wind in Ohio, May 1, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Tennessee, May 1, 1997
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1997Warnings in North Carolina, May 1997
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: 5592434.