Tornado, Caswell
- When
- May 7, 3:35 PM EST to 3:37 PM EST
- Where
- Caswell County, Leasburg to 8 mi SW of Leasburg
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 36.320, -79.270
Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, May 7, 1998
A tornado formed seven and a half miles southwest of Leasburg at 1535 EST and traveled about one half mile northeast before dissipating at 1537 EST seven miles southwest of Leasburg. A tornado formed one mile east southeast of Level Cross at 1719 EST and traveled east northeastward about two and a half miles before dissipating three and a half miles east of Level Cross at 1725 EST.
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
- 2
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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 RNK wrote it up.
Thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours on the 7th produced two tornadoes, hail up to golf ball size, and damaging winds.A tornado formed seven and a half miles southwest of Leasburg at 1535 EST and traveled about one half mile northeast before dissipating at 1537 EST seven miles southwest of Leasburg. This tornado damaged several homes, two chicken houses, a mobile home, a carport, a business, and a rest home, knocked down trees, and injured two people.A tornado formed one mile east southeast of Level Cross at 1719 EST and traveled east northeastward about two and a half miles before dissipating three and a half miles east of Level Cross at 1725 EST. The tornado ripped shingles from a roof, blew houses off their foundation, damaged or destroyed numerous out buildings, broke out windows, and damaged trees and a mobile home and knocked down power lines. A house was damaged when two large trees fell on it.Thunderstorm winds knocked down numerous trees across the southern portion of Stokes County and two miles south-southeast of Providence, knocked down trees and power lines three miles south-southwest of Milton, broke off tree limbs in Jonesville, and destroyed a mobile home and damaged trees three and a half miles west-southwest of Wilkesboro.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Watauga
- When
- May 7, 3:45 PM EST to 3:50 PM EST
- Where
- Watauga County, 2 mi W of Blowing Rock
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 36.130, -81.720
Hail, Wilkes
- When
- May 7, 4:05 PM EST
- Where
- Wilkes County, Ferguson
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 36.100, -81.370
Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkes
- When
- May 7, 4:15 PM EST
- Where
- Wilkes County, 4 mi WSW of Wilkesboro
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 36.130, -81.220
Thunderstorm Wind, Yadkin
- When
- May 7, 4:45 PM EST
- Where
- Yadkin County, Jonesville
- Coordinates
- 36.230, -80.850
Tornado, Surry
- When
- May 7, 5:19 PM EST to 5:25 PM EST
- Where
- Surry County, Level Cross to 1 mi E of Level Cross
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 2.5 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Property damage
- $800,000
- Coordinates
- 36.350, -80.620
Thunderstorm Wind, Stokes
- When
- May 7, 6:00 PM EST to 6:20 PM EST
- Where
- Stokes County, South Portion
- Coordinates
- 36.300, -80.230
Thunderstorm Wind, Caswell
- When
- May 7, 7:40 PM EST
- Where
- Caswell County, 2 mi SSE of Providence
- Coordinates
- 36.470, -79.350
Thunderstorm Wind, Caswell
- When
- May 7, 7:50 PM EST
- Where
- Caswell County, 3 mi SSW of Milton
- Coordinates
- 36.500, -79.230
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.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, May 7 to 8, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, May 7, 1998
- Tornado in North Carolina, May 7, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, May 7, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Ohio, May 7, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Georgia, May 7 to 8, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Virginia, May 7, 1998
- Tornado in Tennessee, May 7, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in South Carolina, May 7, 1998
- Tornado in Tennessee, May 7, 1998
- Tornado in North Carolina, May 7, 1998
- Tornado in Alabama, May 7, 1998
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1998Warnings in North Carolina, May 1998
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: 5646328, 5646329, 5646330, 5646333, 5646332, 5646326, 5646327, 5646334, 5646331.