North Carolina, 2017

Tornado in North Carolina, July 19, 2017

July 19, 2017 · NWS ILM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A large upper low was in the process of cutting off and drifting south. This created relatively steep lapse rates in an environment characterized by increasing heat and instability.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
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 large upper low was in the process of cutting off and drifting south. This created relatively steep lapse rates in an environment characterized by increasing heat and instability. The calculated waterspout risk was moderate.

What forecasters said that day

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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 1:50 PM EST, 20 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 1:50 PM EST, 20 hours 33 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 18, 1:43 PM EST, 20 hours 40 minutes before
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The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:23 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Pender

When
July 19, 10:23 AM EST to 10:25 AM EST
Where
Pender County, 0.87 mi SSW of Surf City to 0.79 mi SSW of Surf City
Rating
EF0
Path length
0.15 mi
Path width
25 yd
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates
34.418, -77.555

A storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service confirmed a waterspout moved onshore with tornadic winds up to 70 mph that resulted in minor damage. The EF-0 tornado tossed patio furniture and caused minor damage to wooden patio fencing at one residence on S Shore Dr. The tornado quickly moved across S Shore Dr. and caused minor roof damage to a home at the intersection of Seahorse Ave. and S Shore Dr. The tornado caused more roof damage to a home on the north side of Seahorse Ave. as well as a town house before lifting. There was considerable video evidence of the waterspout and tornado. The path length was less than two tenths of a mile.

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 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2017Warnings in North Carolina, July 2017

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: 714082.