Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina

2011 tornadoes in North Carolina

65 tornadoes touched down in North Carolina in 2011, 222 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 26 people and injured 467.

2010 2012 The whole country in 2011

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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 2011

March 6 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 6	5:10 PM EST	EF0	Wake	2.3	50	1	$100,000
March 6	6:17 PM EST	EF0	Greene	0.6	30		$2,000
March 6	6:17 PM EST	EF0	Wilson	0.4	25

April 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	1:25 AM EDT	EF1	Surry	2.7	250			$1.0 million

April 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	4:50 PM EDT	EF0	Cleveland	0.5	75		3	$50,000

April 16 31 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	12:41 PM EDT	EF1	Rowan	4.0	100
April 16	12:59 PM EDT	EF0	Union	3.0	50
April 16	2:06 PM EDT	EF1	Alamance	10.7	300			$980,000
April 16	1:40 PM CDT	EF2	Person to VA	26.2	300		6	$1.1 million
April 16	2:53 PM EDT	EF3	Moore	65.2	500	6	103	$172 million
April 16	3:33 PM EDT	EF1	Robeson	0.7	50			$1.5 million
April 16	3:33 PM EDT	EF3	Hoke	52.9	800	2	176	$141 million
April 16	3:47 PM EDT	EF1	Robeson	1.5	352			$3.0 million
April 16	4:25 PM EDT	EF2	Bladen	29.9	800	3	13	$11 million
April 16	4:50 PM EDT	EF1	Johnston	8.6	100
April 16	4:58 PM EDT	EF2	Bladen	13.1	440	1		$3.1 million
April 16	5:12 PM EDT	EF0	Duplin	0.2	30
April 16	5:12 PM EDT	EF2	Wilson	9.0	200		10	$3.0 million
April 16	5:20 PM EDT	EF2	Halifax	8.2	300			$1.2 million
April 16	5:32 PM EDT	EF3	Wayne	20.4	400		30	$30 million
April 16	5:33 PM EDT	EF0	Columbus	0.2	25
April 16	5:59 PM EDT	EF1	Pitt	3.3	75		5	$1.0 million
April 16	6:05 PM EDT	EF1	Columbus	1.1	50			$35,000
April 16	6:35 PM EDT	EF0	Duplin	0.6	150
April 16	6:55 PM EDT	EF3	Bertie	17.9	1,300	12	58	$3.3 million
April 16	7:05 PM EDT	EF2	Bertie	17.5	500		8	$1.1 million
April 16	7:07 PM EDT	EF2	Jones	2.4	200			$100,000
April 16	7:09 PM EDT	EF0	Martin	0.1	75			$10,000
April 16	7:40 PM EDT	EF0	Craven	0.1	30
April 16	8:08 PM EDT	EF0	Beaufort	0.6	30			$4,000
April 16	8:11 PM EDT	EF3	Onslow	3.8	450		30	$9.4 million
April 16	8:43 PM EDT	EF2	Craven	4.1	200		7	$4.0 million
April 16	8:52 PM EDT	EF0	Pamlico	0.1	30
April 16	9:01 PM EDT	EF1	Tyrrell	7.4	550			$400,000
April 16	9:30 PM EDT	EF1	Currituck	2.0	200			$40,000
April 16	9:35 PM EDT	EF1	Dare	0.7	250			$767,000

April 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	2:15 PM EDT	EF0	Martin	0.1	30			$500

April 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	10:45 PM EDT	EF0	Madison	0.1	50
April 27	12:31 AM EDT	EF0	Macon	0.2	30

April 28 11 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 28	3:22 AM EDT	EF1	Caldwell	4.5	100	1
April 28	3:33 AM EDT	EF1	Alexander	4.3	75
April 28	3:00 PM EDT	EF1	Duplin	1.4	100		$10,000
April 28	3:43 PM EDT	EF0	Columbus	0.6	20		$27,000
April 28	4:07 PM EDT	EF1	Pender	0.3	60		$66,000
April 28	4:10 PM EDT	EF0	Pender	6.3	50		$33,000
April 28	4:20 PM EDT	EF0	Craven	0.1	50
April 28	4:29 PM EDT	EF1	Pender	3.1	60		$105,000
April 28	4:30 PM EDT	EF0	Martin	0.1	30
April 28	4:38 PM EDT	EF0	Pender	0.2	30		$12,000
April 28	5:23 PM EDT	EF0	Beaufort	0.3	30

August 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 6	11:25 AM EDT	EF0	Wilson	2.5	75			$150,000

August 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 18	10:15 AM EDT	EF0	New Hanover	0.3	20			$3,000
August 18	5:35 PM EDT	EF0	Alexander	0.4	150			$500,000

August 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 26	9:12 PM EDT	EF1	Beaufort	4.4	75	$200,000
August 26	10:12 PM EDT	EF0	Washington	0.1	50	$75,000
August 26	11:55 PM EDT	EF2	Tyrrell	0.5	50	$150,000

September 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 5	5:20 PM EDT	EF1	Wilkes	1.3	250	$850,000
September 5	7:51 PM EDT	EF0	Union	0.5	40
September 5	8:53 PM EDT	EF0	Stanly	4.2	100	$35,000

September 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 6	6:40 AM EDT	EF0	Moore	1.3	25			$10,000
September 6	7:41 PM EDT	EF0	Robeson	0.9	60			$20,000

September 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 29	4:10 AM EDT	EF1	Tyrrell	0.1	10		1	$20,000

November 16 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 16	4:25 PM EST	EF0	Cleveland	0.3	50			$5,000
November 16	6:05 PM EST	EF2	Davidson	12.5	200	2	15	$21 million
November 16	11:14 PM EST	EF0	Hertford	1.7	50			$10,000

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.