F0 tornado, Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, August 31, 2006

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   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 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.

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

F0

Date

August 31, 2006

Touchdown

9:30 PM EDT (01:30 UTC)

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Onslow County

Touchdown point

34.570, -77.420

Lift-off point

34.570, -77.420

Record number

859

TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO, WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 70 MPH, MADE LANDFALL ON AUGUST 31ST DURING THE LATE EVENING HOURS. THE STRONG TROPICAL STORM MOVED ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAINS REGION DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1ST. IN GENERAL, WIND GUSTS RANGED FROM 40 TO 60 MPH WITH THE HIGHEST GUSTS NEAR 70 MPH ALONG THE COASTAL SECTIONS OF ONSLOW COUNTY. MINOR STORM SURGE FLOODING AND BEACH EROSION OCCURRED ALONG THE ONSLOW AND CARTERET COUNTY COAST LINE AND THE NEUSE RIVER. MORE SIGNIFICANT SURGE OCCURRED ALONG THE PAMLICO RIVER IN BEAUFORT COUNTY WHERE EVACUATIONS WERE ORDERED. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL RANGED FROM 4 INCHES TO NEAR 10 INCHES. THIS HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTED IN EXTENSIVE FRESH WATER FLOODING AND EVENTUAL RIVER FLOODING ACROSS THE AREA WITH SOME PRIMARY AND MANY SECONDARY ROADS FLOODED. THE NORTHEAST CAPE FEAR RIVER AT CHINQUAPIN REMAINED IN MAJOR FLOOD FROM SEPTEMBER 2ND THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7TH RESULTING OF FLOODING OF PRIMARY ROADS AND HOMES FORCING THE EVACUATION OF MANY RESIDENTS IN THE CHINQUAPIN AREA. HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THE EVENING OF AUGUST 31ST THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF SEPTEMBER 1ST RESULTED IN EXTENSIVE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS, ROADS, AND STREAMS ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA, MAINLY WEST OF THE HIGHWAY 17 CORRIDOR. AREAL FLOOD WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR MOST OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA AS ERNESTO MOVED ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAINS COUNTIES OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. DUPLIN COUNTY WAS HARDEST HIT WITH PRIMARY ROADS FLOODED INCLUDING A 12 MILE STRETCH OF INTERSTATE 40. MANY STREAMS AND ROADS ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAINS COUNTIES REMAINED FLOODED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. FRESHWATER FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING FROM ERNESTO CAUSED MOST OF THE DAMAGES ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE EFFECTS OCCURRED ALONG THE PAMLICO AND PUNGO RIVERS IN BEAUFORT COUNTY WHERE ESTIMATED WATER LEVEL RISES OF 4 TO 6 FEET RESULTED IN FLOODING OF MANY ROADS, LOW LYING AREAS, HOMES, AND BUSINESSES IN WASHINGTON, WHICHARDS BEACH, AND BELHAVEN. HIGHEST WIND GUSTS OCCURRED IN THE COASTAL PLAINS COUNTIES WITH GUSTS NEAR 70 MPH ALONG COASTAL ONSLOW COUNTY WITH WIND DAMAGE REPORTED. THIRTY HOMES AND BUSINESSES WERE DAMAGED, MAINLY FROM FRESHWATER FLOODING, IN ONSLOW COUNTY WITH DAMAGES ESTIMATED NEAR 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS. THIRTY HOMES WERE FLOODED OR REPORTED WIND DAMAGE IN JONES COUNTY WITH DAMAGE ESTIMATES OVER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. CROP DAMAGE IN JONES COUNTY WAS ESTIMATED UP TO 5 MILLION DOLLARS. FRESHWATER FLOODING WAS EXTENSIVE IN DUPLIN COUNTY, AND MAJOR RIVER FLOODING OCCURRED ALONG THE NORTHEAST CAPE FEAR RIVER NEAR CHINQUAPIN WHERE SEVERAL PRIMARY AND MANY SECONDARY ROADS WERE FLOODED FOR NEARLY ONE WEEK. EVACUATIONS OF MANY HOMES, AND RESCUES DUE TO HIGH WATER WERE REQUIRED ACROSS SEVERAL LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY, ESPECIALLY NEAR CHINQUAPIN. AN ESTIMATED SOUNDSIDE FLOODING OF 3 FEET OCCURRED AT COLLINGTON HARBOR IN DARE COUNTY WHERE SEVERAL HOMES AND BUSINESSES WERE FLOODED WITH AN ESTIMATED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN DAMAGES OCCURRED. MINOR WIND OR FLOODING DAMAGES WERE REPORTED IN MANY OTHER COUNTIES IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THREE WEAK TORNADOES REPORTED ACROSS CARTERET AND ONSLOW COUNTIES RESULTED IN MINOR DAMAGE.

Spotter reported tornado.

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

32 minutes of warning. NWS MHX issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:58 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:20 UTC and running to 08:35 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:53 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

New_river_mcas (NCA), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:32 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

2 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.