A very warm and humid air mass combined to produce an unstable atmosphere out ahead of a strong cold front. The front moved through the early evening, while out ahead of it, several lines of severe thunderstorms raced across Eastern North Carolina during the afternoon hours during the peak heating of the day.
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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 MHX wrote it up.
A very warm and humid air mass combined to produce an unstable atmosphere out ahead of a strong cold front. The front moved through the early evening, while out ahead of it, several lines of severe thunderstorms raced across Eastern North Carolina during the afternoon hours during the peak heating of the day. Multiple reports of damage to homes occurred, along with reports of trees and powerlines blown down with estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph. Within a particular line of thunderstorms, a brief tornado formed and touched down in Bayview before quickly lifting as it exited the community.
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:18 UTC.
10 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A large metal garage/warehouse structure was lifted up and blown into the road in the 1200 block of Lanefield Rd. Several trees were blown down in the area as well.
The South Lenoir High School gym sustained significant roof damage from the strong thunderstorm wind gusts.
Multiple trees were blown down northeast of New Bern. One particular tree was blown down on a house on Morgan Swamp Rd.
The 911 center reported trees were blown down on Gum Swamp Church Rd and Porter Rd. The time was estimated based on radar data.
The strong wind gusts damaged a roof in Robersonville.
Photos of shingles that were blown off a roof along with a damage to a playground were received by an NWS employee.
Multiple trees were reportedly blown down along Hwy 33 between Broome Rd and Guilford Station Rd with some damage to nearby houses. Multiple power poles were also blown down. The time was estimated based on radar data.
A roof was ripped off of a commercial building in the 1960 block of Flat Swamp Rd.
The 911 center reported multiple trees blown down along the corner of NC Hwy 903 and Hassell Rd.
The NWS in Newport, NC surveyed damage that occurred in Bayview, NC. The survey team concluded that a waterspout moved ashore and touched down as a brief tornado in town before lifting. The tornado was moving very quickly in a northeastward direction and affected a neighborhood on the east side of the Bayview Golf Club, or near the intersection of Bayview Rd. and King Blount Dr. Several very large 3 ft diameter pine trees had their trunks snapped about 12 ft up. There was also a large cedar tree (2 ft diameter) that was snapped. Based on the damage to the very large softwood trees, wind speeds were estimated to be between 100 and 105 mph. Additional damage included a large shed that had its tin roof torn off and thrown approximately 25 yards, shingles that were torn from several homes, and large limbs that were blown down.
Tideland EMC reported multiple power outages in the Belhaven area due to trees blown down onto power lines.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2023Warnings in North Carolina, January 2023
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1064001, 1064002, 1064006, 1064003, 1064004, 1064005, 1064009, 1064007, 1064008, 1064000, 1064010.