EF3 tornado, Askewville to Lloyd Xrds, North Carolina, April 16, 2011

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 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. EF3136 to 165 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

April 16, 2011

Touchdown

6:55 PM EDT (22:55 UTC)

Lifted

7:10 PM EDT (23:10 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

17.9 miles (28.8 km)

Path width

1,300 yards (1189 m)

Deaths

12

Injuries

58

Property damage

$3.3 million

Crop damage

$1,200,000

Counties

Bertie and Hertford counties

Touchdown point

36.087, -76.950

Lift-off point

36.286, -76.746

Record number

1104161655-01

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

Tornado first touched down about one mile south of Askewville (east of U.S. Rt. 13), producing minor tree and building damage. The tornado began producing significant damage on the east side of Askewville, where numerous structures and several mobile homes sustained major damage or were destroyed. The tornado then tracked continuously for nearly 19 miles finally lifting east of Harrellsville. For much of the tornado's life, the path width was one half to nearly three quarters of a mile wide. EF2 and EF3 damage was widespread from just east of Askewville northeast to about 3 miles west of Colerain, then gradually decreased as the tornado crossed into Hertford county. Numerous homes were destroyed, and many others suffered varying degrees of damage. In addition, there was extensive damage to trees and wooded areas in the path of the tornado. A split in the tornado damage paths just north of Colerain suggests that the tornado underwent a cyclic re-development with 2 tornadoes on the ground simultaneously for a period of about 5 miles.

A distinct separation in the damage paths northwest of Colerain suggested that a second tornado formed just northwest of Colerain and tracked northeast nearly parallel to the original tornado. North of Colerain, the tornado tracked parallel to Route 45 for about 1 mile then continued northeast into southeast Hertford county just west of the Chowan River. In the Bertie county portion of the tornado, several homes and other buildings were damaged. Poultry houses and other farm equipment were also damaged. Many trees were downed or snapped off.

Tornado tracked from northeast Bertie county into southeast Hertford county. Tornado produced mainly EF2 damage in southeast Hertford county. Many homes were destroyed and several others suffered varying degrees of damage. In addition, there was damage to trees and wooded areas in the path of the tornado.

Tornado tracked from northeast Bertie county into southeast Hertford county. Several homes and other buildings were damaged. Poultry houses and other farm equipment were also damaged. Many trees were downed or snapped off. Tornado then tracked northeast into Gates county.

The deaths

12 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS AKQ issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:35 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 16:17 UTC and running to 00:58 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 High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:03 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.

Edenton_northea (EDE), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:53 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 2011 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

56 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.