Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina

1973 tornadoes in North Carolina

37 tornadoes touched down in North Carolina in 1973, 83 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 17.

1972 1974 The whole country in 1973

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in North Carolina in 1973

April 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	12:18 AM EST	F1	Pender	1.5	100			$5,000 to $50,000

April 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	4:15 AM EST	F2	Beaufort	0.5	123	1	1	$5,000 to $50,000

May 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Richmond	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

May 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 17	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Harnett	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	11:15 AM EDT	F2	Pasquotank	2.7	10		2	$50,000 to $500,000

May 23 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 23	1:30 PM EDT	F1	Martin	1.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000
May 23	11:30 PM EDT	F1	Catawba	0.1	10		2	$5,000 to $50,000

May 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	5:00 PM EDT	F1	Moore	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000
May 24	10:30 PM EDT	F1	Chowan	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 27 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 27	7:30 PM EDT	F1	Alleghany	0.1	10	1	$50,000 to $500,000
May 27	8:00 PM EDT	F1	Catawba	31.3	300		$50,000 to $500,000
May 27	9:15 PM EDT	F0	Rutherford	0.1	10
May 27	10:00 PM EDT	F1	Caldwell	10.4	100		$5,000 to $50,000
May 27	10:30 PM EDT	F0	Lincoln	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 27	1:05 AM EDT	F1	Wilkes	32.3	10	3	$50,000 to $500,000

May 28 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 28	2:01 AM EDT	F0	Forsyth	0.1	10	2	$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	7:00 AM EDT	F2	Mecklenburg	9.6	100		$50,000 to $500,000
May 28	7:00 AM EDT	F0	Cabarrus	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	4:00 PM EDT	F0	Montgomery	0.1	10		$50,000 to $500,000
May 28	5:00 PM EDT	F1	Wake	6.4	10	2	$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Mecklenburg	0.1	50	1	$50,000 to $500,000
May 28	7:00 PM EDT	F1	Davidson	4.0	10		$50,000 to $500,000
May 28	8:00 PM EDT	F0	Cabarrus	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	8:00 PM EDT	F0	Gaston	0.1	10
May 28	8:30 PM EDT	F1	Halifax	24.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	9:45 PM EDT	F1	Hertford	0.1	10	1	$50,000 to $500,000
May 28	10:00 PM EDT	F0	Nash	1.0	10		$5,000 to $50,000

May 29 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 29	4:00 AM EDT	F0	Wake	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	4:00 AM EDT	F0	Bertie	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	6:00 AM EDT	F1	Cumberland	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	7:00 AM EDT	F1	Johnston	17.9	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	3:30 PM EDT	F0	Pitt	12.9	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	3:50 PM EDT	F0	Greene	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

June 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 13	5:00 PM EDT	F0	Pender	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	8:00 PM EDT	F1	Davidson	0.1	10		2	$500 to $5,000

September 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 14	5:00 PM EDT	F2	Washington	11.2	300			$5,000 to $50,000
September 14	6:00 PM EDT	F1	Lenoir	5.2	67			$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into North Carolina

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into North Carolina. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	6:20 PM CDT	F3	Greenville, SC to NC	60.2	150		40	$500,000 to $5 million

Nearby

Every tornado in North Carolina since 1950 Warnings in force in North Carolina The live radar over North Carolina

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.