North Carolina, 2008

Tornado in North Carolina, November 15, 2008

November 15, 2008 · NWS ILM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A mid-level short wave lifted to the northeast and slowly weakened with time. A warm front, lifting to the northwest, moved across the area during the evening.

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

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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 ILM wrote it up.

A mid-level short wave lifted to the northeast and slowly weakened with time. A warm front, lifting to the northwest, moved across the area during the evening. High wind shear and deep moisture was in place as upstream supercell thunderstorms reached the Interstate-95 corridor shortly after midnight.

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Robeson

When
November 15, 1:35 AM EST to 1:38 AM EST
Where
Robeson County, 1.72 mi ESE of St Pauls to 2.23 mi ENE of St Pauls
Rating
EF0
Path length
1.1 mi
Path width
30 yd
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates
34.792, -78.921

A National Weather Service Storm Survey concluded a tornado first touched down near mobile homes just northeast of Lester Road at 135 AM EST. There was significant damage to one mobile home along with some trees down. The tornado tracked north-northeast crossing Highway 20 near Ralph's Auto Repair Shop. All of the bay doors were blown out of the shop and 17 storage buildings located on the property were destroyed. Four vehicles at the repair shop sustained damage as well as a tow truck and a tractor trailer. The tornado continued to move north-northeast knocking trees down across the railroad tracks north of Highway 20. A mobile home along Britt Road sustained moderate damage. The tornado finally dissipated just north of Britt Road at 138 AM EST. The damage was indicative of wind speeds up to 80 mph, EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. There were no injuries. The total damage was estimated at $50,000 dollars.

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 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2008Warnings in North Carolina, November 2008

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 138968.