F2 tornado, Spiveys Corner, North Carolina, September 16, 1996

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   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.

4. 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.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating

F2

Date

September 16, 1996

Touchdown

9:20 PM EDT (01:20 UTC)

Path length

1.4 miles (2.3 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

County

Sampson County

Touchdown point

35.250, -78.530

Lift-off point

35.250, -78.530

Record number

955

The tornado first touched down about 5 miles southwest of the community of Spivey. A tin roof on a farm house was peeled back and two chimneys were toppled. Two farm sheds were destroyed on the same property. The tornado crossed Williams Lake Road where a mobile home was destroyed and its remains strewn 100 yards to the northeast across an open field and into a wooded area. The storm continued northeast and destroyed four turkey houses and a wooded area was reduced to splinters.The storm continued moving northeast, crossed Ottis Tew Road and struck a wooden house. A large portion of the roof was deposited on the east side of the home. Another portion of the roof was deposited in a tree on the northeast side of the house. Splintered pieces of wood from the house and tree branches were driven into the ground. Windows on the south side of the house were broken. The southeast corner of the home had indentations caused by flying debris. Trees in the yard were twisted, uprooted and stripped of their limbs. Tin from the turkey houses and out buildings was wrapped around trees.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

Fort_bragg/Simmons (FBG), 39 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1996 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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