Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina · 2008

EF2 tornado, Trap to Ryland, North Carolina, May 9, 2008

From Trap to Ryland, this EF2 tornado ran 11.7 miles across Bertie, Chowan and Hertford counties on May 9, 2008, touching down at 8:29 AM EDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $120,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF2
Date
May 9, 2008
Touchdown
8:29 AM EDT (12:29 UTC)
Lifted
8:49 AM EDT (12:49 UTC)
On the ground
20 minutes
Path length
11.7 miles (18.8 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$120,000
Counties
Bertie, Chowan and Hertford counties
Touchdown point
36.204, -76.824
Lift-off point
36.290, -76.645
Record number
0805090629-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of a cold front produced damaging winds and two tornadoes across portions of northeast North Carolina.

Tornado touched down on Buncomb Road about three miles west of Colerain in northeast Bertie county. Barns were damaged on Harrell Road, and a barn was destroyed on Glovers Cross Road. Trees were downed on Route 45 just south of the Hertford/Bertie county line. The tornado then tracked into Hertford county.

Tornado tracked into Hertford county from Bertie county. Roofs were blown off of two homes, and numerous trees were downed. The tornado then tracked into Chowan county.

Tornado tracked into Chowan county from Hertford county. The tornado produced additional damage to trees and buildings.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS AKQ issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:14 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 12:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:03 UTC and running to 12:57 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:03 UTC12:57 UTCTornado WatchAKQ
11:41 UTC12:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
12:14 UTC12:45 UTCTornado WarningAKQ

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 forecast that day

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 05:55 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 air that afternoon

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.

Newport, NC (KMHX), 12:00Z

0.5 hours before the tornado, 164 km from the path. May 9, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2008-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 822 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 884 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2008-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 252 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
822 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1967 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
273 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
9.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Newport, NC (KMHX), 00:00Z

11.5 hours after it, 164 km from the path. May 10, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 2008-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1091 joules per kilogram, CIN -39, lifted condensation level 1343 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 2008-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1091 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2042 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1343 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Edenton_northea (EDE), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
10:40 UTC71.666.2190° 15 kt201004.1
11:00 UTC71.666.2200° 16 kt211004.1
11:20 UTC73.466.2200° 14 kt181003.7
11:40 UTC73.466.2200° 12 kt211003.7
12:00 UTC73.466.2220° 15 kt181003.7-RA
12:20 UTC71.666.2220° 10 kt171004.1RA
12:40 UTC69.866.2200° 11 kt141003.4-RA
13:00 UTC71.666.2200° 14 kt181003.4
13:20 UTC71.666.2210° 12 kt191003.4
13:40 UTC71.666.2220° 14 kt211003
14:00 UTC71.666.2230° 11 kt211003
14:20 UTC71.666.2220° 12 kt191003

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

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 12:29 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
12:19 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 N Buena VistaBertie, NC
12:29 UTCTORNADO2 Nw ColerainBertie, NCBARNS DAMAGED ON HARRELLS RD, BARN DESTROYED ON GLOVERS CROSSROAD. TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 45 .1 MILE SOUTH OF THE HERTFORD/BERTIE COUNTY LINE.
12:44 UTCTORNADO3 Se HarrellsvilleHertford, NCPOSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED TREES DOWN
12:44 UTCTORNADO4 Se HarrellsvilleHertford, NCEF2 TORNADO CONFIRMED 4 MILES SE OF HARRELLSVILLE BY NWS STORM SURVEY. PATH WAS APPROX. 1/4 MILE WIDE. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. ROOFS OFF TWO HOMES. SEVERAL BARNS DAMAGED AND/OR DESTROYED.
12:49 UTCTORNADO2 Nw RylandChowan, NCROOF BLOWN OFF OF PEANUT STORAGE BUILDING OFF RTE 32.
13:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nne Elizabeth CityCamden, NCMOBILE HOME SHIFTED OFF FOUNDATION. TREE DOWN ON BUILDING NEAR NORTH SIDE ROAD.
13:30 UTCTORNADO4 Nnw Elizabeth CityPasquotank, NCEF0 TORNADO. PATH LENGTH 1/2 MILE. PATH WIDTH 50 YARDS. MOBILE HOME SHIFTED OFF FOUNDATION. TREES DOWN.ONE TREE FELL ON ON BUILDING NEAR NORTH SIDE ROAD. TORNADO OBSERVED BY RESIDENTS.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 9, 2008

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 92:10 AM EDTEF2Gaston, NC18.275$7.0 million
May 99:30 AM EDTEF0Pasquotank, NC0.550$15,000
May 92:12 PM MDTEF0Weston, WY0.1150

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.