Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina

1975 tornadoes in North Carolina

35 tornadoes touched down in North Carolina in 1975, 74 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1974 1976 The whole country in 1975

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 1975

January 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 10	9:30 PM EST	F2	Transylvania	4.3	20			$5,000 to $50,000

February 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 16	4:30 PM EST	F1	Robeson	0.1	77		1	$5,000 to $50,000

March 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 12	4:30 PM EDT	F0	Jackson	0.1	10			$50 to $500

March 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 14	2:30 AM EDT	F1	Catawba	0.1	20			$500 to $5,000
March 14	1:30 PM EDT	F2	Duplin	32.6	100		20	$500,000 to $5 million

March 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 19	8:50 AM EDT	F1	Alamance	2.0	67		1	$5,000 to $50,000

March 24 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 24	11:30 AM EDT	F1	Duplin	10.9	50		$5,000 to $50,000
March 24	1:50 PM EDT	F1	Davidson	7.1	67	1	$50,000 to $500,000
March 24	2:15 PM EDT	F2	Union	30.6	100	1	$50,000 to $500,000
March 24	2:30 PM EDT	F1	Hoke	11.0	33		$50 to $500

May 15 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 15	4:30 PM EDT	F1	Cleveland	0.1	10		$500 to $5,000
May 15	5:30 PM EDT	F1	Gaston	0.1	10	1	$5,000 to $50,000
May 15	6:30 PM EDT	F1	Chatham	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 15	7:10 PM EDT	F1	Robeson	0.2	100		$500 to $5,000
May 15	7:47 PM EDT	F1	Robeson	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
May 15	8:30 PM EDT	F1	Harnett	1.0	100	6	$5,000 to $50,000

May 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	3:00 AM EDT	F2	Rutherford	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
May 18	6:30 PM EDT	F1	Rutherford	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 23	2:00 PM EDT	F1	Wayne	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	8:25 PM EDT	F1	Columbus	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	9:30 PM EDT	F1	Catawba	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	8:00 PM EDT	F1	Wilkes	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

June 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	8:00 PM EDT	F0	Cabarrus	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	3:30 PM EDT	F1	Iredell	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	4:00 PM EDT	F0	Dare	0.5	10			$500 to $5,000

July 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	6:30 PM EDT	F1	Pender	0.1	33			$5,000 to $50,000

July 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 13	4:00 PM EDT	F1	Orange	0.1	10		1	$500 to $5,000

September 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 7	4:45 PM EDT	F0	Brunswick	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

September 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 8	2:20 PM EDT	F1	Duplin	0.6	100			$5,000 to $50,000

October 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 8	4:25 PM EDT	F1	Mecklenburg	0.1	50			$5,000 to $50,000

October 17 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 17	9:35 AM EDT	F1	Henderson	0.1	20			$500 to $5,000
October 17	2:00 PM EDT	F1	Brunswick	2.0	27			$5,000 to $50,000

December 31 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 31	4:30 PM EST	F1	Stanly	0.1	27	$500 to $5,000
December 31	5:00 PM EST	F1	Wake	0.1	20	$500 to $5,000
December 31	5:15 PM EST	F0	Durham	0.1	10	$50 to $500

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.