A strong cold front and deep upper level trough produced periods of wind damage across central North Carolina. Some of the wind damage on the morning of April 28th, 2011 occurred with non-thunderstorm winds due to rapid pressure falls/rises associated with a gravity wave.
Every event with a place to put it; 25 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS RAH wrote it up.
A strong cold front and deep upper level trough produced periods of wind damage across central North Carolina. Some of the wind damage on the morning of April 28th, 2011 occurred with non-thunderstorm winds due to rapid pressure falls/rises associated with a gravity wave.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 28, 2:40 AM EST, 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 340 AM EDT THU APR 28 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A WARM AND MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL THROUGH THIS MORNING. A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH TODAY... ACCOMPANIED BY NUMEROUS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TODAY/... AS OF 255 AM THURSDAY... ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES THIS MORNING THROUGH MID AFTERNOON WITH A PRIMARY RISK OF DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES... A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE TRIAD/ROXBORO AREAS THROUGH 8 AM... AND MORE WATCHES MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS MORNING. THE DEVASTATING TORNADO OUTBREAK ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH AND GULF STATES INTO THE INTERIOR SOUTHEAST HAS ABATED SLIGHTLY IN THE LAST FEW HOURS... ALTHOUGH ISOLATED WIND DAMAGE AND TORNADO REPORTS CONTINUE TO COME IN OVER WRN NC... WITH A PARTICULARLY POTENT SUPERCELL OVER THE CENTRAL NC MOUNTAINS/FOOTHILLS. SURFACE DEW POINTS OVER CENTRAL NC REMAIN IN THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S WITH A STOUT GUSTY SOUTHERLY FLOW... YIELDING STRONG DEEP LAYER EFFECTIVE SHEAR OVER 40 KTS OVER MUCH OF THE CWA... HOWEVER MLCAPE HAS TRAILED OFF WITH THE MODERATE INSTABILITY SUPPRESSED ACROSS GA/SRN SC... AND MAINLY ELEVATED INSTABILITY OVER CENTRAL NC. NEVERTHELESS... WITH RUC-ANALYZED 0-1 KM SRH STILL OVER 500 M2/S2 OVER THE NW CWA AND RATHER LONG CURVING HODOGRAPHS THROUGH THE LOWEST 2 KM... THE THREAT OF A POSSIBLY TORNADIC SUPERCELL SURVIVING AS IT TRACKS NORTHEASTWARD INTO THIS ENVIRONMENT PERSISTS THROUGH THIS MORNING... AND THE INTENSE WIND FIELD THROUGH THE LOWEST FEW KM SUPPORTS A POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING BOWING SEGMENTS AS WELL. AFTER SUNRISE... MODELS AGREE THAT THE 50-60 KT LOW LEVEL JET NOW STRETCHING OVER THE CENTRAL/SRN APPALACHIANS WILL PUSH EASTWARD THROUGH THE PIEDMONT THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON... ALTHOUGH THE CORE OF THIS JET WILL PASS TO OUR NORTH AND INTO THE NORTHEAST STATES. THE BETTER MID LEVEL HEIGHT FALLS PASS TO OUR NORTH AS WELL... BUT MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES ARE PROJECTED TO REMAIN OVER 7 C/KM... AND MLCAPE IS EXPECTED TO RECOVER TO NEAR 1500 J/KG ROUGHLY ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 1 BY LATE MORNING... WITH DECREASING YET STILL IMPRESSIVE 0-3 KM BULK SHEAR OVER 50 KTS. THE INITIALLY LONG CURVED HODOGRAPHS STRAIGHTEN OUT BY 18Z... SUGGESTING A SHIFT FROM A MAINLY TORNADO THREAT TO A MAINLY DAMAGING WIND THREAT AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES TOWARD CENTRAL NC. IN GENERAL THOUGH... WITH THE DECREASE IN DYNAMIC FORCING FOR ASCENT AS INITIALLY VERY INTENSE UPPER DIVERGENCE (IN THE IDEALLY JUXTAPOSED RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE SRLY UPPER JET OVER MI AND THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF THE ELONGATED JET TO OUR WEST) SLOWLY DECREASES... WE SHOULD NOT SEE NEARLY THE EXTREME STORM INTENSITY AS THEY HAVE SEEN WELL TO OUR W/SW IN THE LAST 48 HOURS. HAVE KEPT HIGH POPS THROUGH THE MORNING... TRANSLATING EASTWARD THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON BEFORE DECREASING WEST TO EAST THROUGH MID-LATE AFTERNOON AS THE COLD FRONT SHIFTS TO THE I-95 CORRIDOR BY 21Z. HIGHS 77-84 WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15-20 MPH GUSTING TO AROUND 30 MPH. -GIH && .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 325 AM THURSDAY... FOR TONIGHT: FOLLOWING CONSENSUS OF MODEL OUTPUT... WILL TREND POPS OUT OF THE ERN CWA BY EARLY EVENING. THE 850 MB TROUGH LAGS THE SURFACE COLD FRONT BY SEVERAL HOURS... SO WE SHOULD SEE SCATTERED TO BROKEN CLOUDS LINGER UNTIL LATE EVENING BEFORE SKIES CLEAR OUT OVERNIGHT WITH LOW LEVEL FLOW BECOMING WEST-NORTHWESTERLY. LOWS 48-55. FOR FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT: THE MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS AND A LAST SHOT OF DCVA FINALLY SHIFTS OVERHEAD FRIDAY... AND LINGERING MOISTURE ATOP THE MIXED LAYER SHOULD RESULT IN A BRIEF PERIOD OF PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. WITH LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES ABOUT 10 M BELOW NORMAL... EXPECT HIGHS OF 70-75. RISING HEIGHTS ALOFT AND SUBSIDENCE WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE CAROLINAS FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT SHOULD LEAD TO GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES... WITH SLIGHTLY BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES GIVEN THE BELOW-NORMAL THICKNESSES. HIGHS SATURDAY 73-78. -GIH && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AS OF 330 AM THURSDAY... SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT: TRANQUIL WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT... WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE LOCATED OFFSHORE AND RIDGING ALOFT HOLING OVER THE AREA. WITH LOW LEVEL THICKNESS VALUES TOPPING OUT NEAR 1390 METERS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON... EXPECT MORE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. HIGHS ON SUNDAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE LOWER 80S. LOWS SUNDAY MORNING WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW STRENGTHENING AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH THE AMPLIFICATION OF THE NEXT TROUGH ALOFT. HOWEVER... THE 00Z GFS AND 00Z ECWMF HAVE COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE TIMING OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE MAIN DIFFERENCES ARISE WITH THE PROGRESSION AND AMPLITUDE OF THE TROUGH ALOFT AT OUR LATITUDE. THE GFS IS SLOWER WITH ENERGY TRACKING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN U.S.... WHICH RESULTS IN THE FRONT HANGING UP JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA... AND CONTINUED RAIN CHANCES THROUGH WEDNESDAY (WITH A CLOSED LOW ALOFT MOVING ACROSS THE AREA). THE ECMWF CONTINUES TO SHOW ANY ENERGY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN U.S. MOVING QUICKLY EASTWARD AND INTO THE BASE OF THE L/W TROUGH AS IT AMPLIFIES. THIS SOLUTION PROVIDES A DEEPER AND MORE OVERALL PROGRESSIVE PATTERN...WITH SHORTWAVE RIDGING BUILDING BACK INTO THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. FOR NOW WILL TREND MORE TOWARDS THE ECWMF... WHICH IS MORE INLINE WITH HPC. HIGHS ON MONDAY WILL DEPEND ON THE TIMING OF THE FRONT ULTIMATELY. FOR NOW WILL ONLY LOWER TEMPS SLIGHTLY... HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S. LOWS MONDAY NIGHT IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S. WITH A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY... WILL GO WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO UPPER 70S TUESDAY AND UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S WEDNESDAY. WILL GO WITH LOWS WEDNESDAY MORNING IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S. && .AVIATION /06Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... AS OF 235 AM THURSDAY... IFR TO LIFR CIGS EXPECTED IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING. CIGS WILL BREAK OUT TO MVFR TO VFR THIS AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED ALONG A COLD FRONT. THIS FRONT WILL PUSH EAST ACROSS OUR REGION BETWEEN 19Z-22Z. GRADIENT WINDS TODAY WILL BE SOUTH AT 15-30KT WITH SOME GUSTS TO 35KT BECOMING SW THEN W BY LATE TODAY AND DECREASING TO 10KT OR LESS BY AROUND 00Z-02Z/FRI. VFR CONDITIONS WITH LIGHT WINDS ARE EXPECTED FRI-SUN. THE NEXT SYSTEM MAY BRING LOWER CIGS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN BY MONDAY. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...HARTFIELD NEAR TERM...HARTFIELD SHORT TERM...HARTFIELD LONG TERM...BSD AVIATION...BADGETT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 131 AM EDT THU APR 28 2011 NCZ008>011-025>028-040>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-281845- GRANVILLE-VANCE-WARREN-HALIFAX-DURHAM-FRANKLIN-NASH-EDGECOMBE- CHATHAM-WAKE-JOHNSTON-WILSON-STANLY-MONTGOMERY-MOORE-LEE-HARNETT- WAYNE-ANSON-RICHMOND-SCOTLAND-HOKE-CUMBERLAND-SAMPSON- 131 AM EDT THU APR 28 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THE REST OF TONIGHT. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES EAST ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SEVERE OR SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMMEDIATELY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. NCZ007-021>024-038-039-281845- PERSON-FORSYTH-GUILFORD-ALAMANCE-ORANGE-DAVIDSON-RANDOLPH- 131 AM EDT THU APR 28 2011 ...TORNADO WATCH 247 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT THIS MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THE REST OF TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. TORNADO WATCH. TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA OVERNIGHT. NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. OVER EIGHTY PERCENT OF ALL TORNADO DEATHS IN NORTH CAROLINA OCCUR AT NIGHT. HAVING A NOAA WEATHER RADIO READY TO ALERT YOU TO WARNINGS AT NIGHT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE. TORNADOES CAN SEVERELY DAMAGE OR DESTROY HOMES... AND OVERTURN VEHICLES. MOST TORNADO FATALITIES OCCUR IN MOBILE HOMES. IF A TORNADO APPROACHES OR A WARNING IS ISSUED...ABANDON MOBILE HOMES QUICKLY AND SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. MONITOR THE LATEST INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR BY VISITING OUR WEBSITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RALEIGH. YOU CAN ALSO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST WEATHER ON A WEB ENABLED CELL PHONE OR OTHER MOBILE DEVICE BY VISITING HTTP://MOBILE.WEATHER.GOV. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES EAST ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SEVERE OR SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMMEDIATELY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
955 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0654 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 2 WNW LAKE TOWNSEND 36.18N 79.81W
04/27/2011 GUILFORD NC TRAINED SPOTTER
WALL CLOUD AND FUNNEL CLOUD
&&
EVENT NUMBER RAH1100548
SECPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1011 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0635 PM HAIL 5 NW HIGH POINT 36.03N 80.06W
04/27/2011 E1.00 INCH FORSYTH NC TRAINED SPOTTER
QUARTER SIZED HAIL NEAR KERNERSVILLE
&&
EVENT NUMBER RAH1100549
SECThe Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:52 UTC.
25 strong wind, 20 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were reported down near the intersection of Neelley Raod and Minden Road.
Several trees were reported down across Cedar Square Road.
Several trees were reported down across the campus of North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University's campus.
One tree was reported down across Lake Brandt Road near Plainfield Road.
Several trees were reported down on Beeson Farm Road.
Trees were reported down across Mcleansville Road.
Several trees were reported down on Old Walker Mill Road.
Two individual sustained minor injuries when their truck crashed into a downed tree on Old Marlboro Road near Sophia, North Carolina.
Several trees were reported down on Old Marlboro Road.
Scattered trees were reported down just to the north of High Rock, North Carolina.
Scattered trees were reported down near Gordontown, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down in Southmont, North Carolina.
Several large oak trees were reported down in Silver City, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down on a house in Thomasville, North Carolina.
Multiple trees were reported down near Lexington, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down 3 miles south of Forest Oak, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down near United States Highway 64 West near the Davidson Randolph county line.
One tree was reported down across Cedar Square Road near United States Highway 311.
One tree was reported down across Millers Mill Road near Summer Road.
Several trees were reported down across Frank Timberlake Road.
One tree was reported down across Ruff Davis Road.
One tree was reported down across North Moore Road near Carter Road.
Power lines were reported down across Morton Pulliam Road.
One tree was reported down across Beulah Hill Church Road near Dowd Road.
Several trees were reported down on Blues Farm Road.
Several trees were reported down on Pea Bridge Road.
KHFF reported a wind gust to 52 knots.
Several trees and power lines were reported down throughout Richmond County.
Widespread wind damage was reported across Southern Moore County.
Numerous trees and power lines were reported down across the county.
Cross arms at a railroad crossing were destroyed in Lillington, North Carolina.
A tree was reported down on house at Autry Road in Harnett County, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down on a vehicle on the west side of Harnett County, North Carolina.
A horse building was destroyed on Crimson Place in Angier, North Carolina.
Several trees were reported down on Broad Avenue.
Several trees were reported down on Bryan Street.
One tree was reported down on a detached garage near Rockingham, North Carolina.
Several trees were reported down across Rockingham Road.
One tree was reported down on Caroline Street.
One tree was reported down across Hawthorne Avenue.
Several large oak trees were reported down across Covington Street.
Several trees were reported down across Richmond Road in the Richmond Park community.
One tree was reported down on Steele Street in Rockingham, North Carolina.
One tree was reported down on Bullocks School Road near Old Wilson Road.
One tree was reported down on a house on Calhoun Drive.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, April 2011
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: 299392, 299456, 299414, 299418, 299455, 299397, 299454, 302957, 299458, 299495, 300939, 300940, 300941, 300943, 300944, 300946, 300948, 301962, 301963, 301966, 301971, 302898, 302908, 302910, 299491, 299492, 299420, 302925, 302919, 302947, 302961, 302963, 302964, 302960, 299468, 299483, 299481, 299489, 299484, 299485, and more.