EF3 tornado, White Hill to Barham, 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

2:53 PM EDT (18:53 UTC)

Lifted

4:15 PM EDT (20:15 UTC)

On the ground

82 minutes

Path length

65.2 miles (105.0 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

6

Injuries

103

Property damage

$172 million

Counties

Moore, Lee, Chatham and Wake counties

Touchdown point

35.338, -79.313

Lift-off point

35.953, -78.412

Record number

1104161253-01

A strong storm system that had a history of producing deadly tornadoes across Oklahoma and the deep south on the 14th and 15th weakened as it crossed the southern Appalachians during the early morning hours of the 16th. A squall line descended the Blue Ridge by the late morning hours, and rapidly intensified |as it moved east into the central Piedmont of North Carolina, with four long live tornadic supercells evolving from the linear convective segment. These tornadic supercells went on to produce 9 tornadoes in the Raleigh CWA, including 2 EF3s, and 4 EF2s. The tornadoes left 8 dead with approximately 275 injuries.

The tornado exited Moore County and proceeded to strengthen to an EF1 as it moved into Lee County along Wildlife Road. The tornado blew a single wide trailer off its foundation, while also damaging the home home next door. The tornado continued to intensify to EF3 intensity along Lemon Springs Road striking the St. Andrews Subdivision. One fatality occurred when a tree fell onto a vehicle along Lemon Springs Road, crushing the driver. Numerous homes were completely destroyed and several two story homes had their upper floors removed. Wind speeds were estimated at 140 mph with a path length of over one quarter mile. Additional homes were blown off their foundations on Cemetery Drive. The tornado continued to produce major damage as it moved east along Cameron drive. The upper floor was blown off of two apartment buildings. The tornado then entered an industrial complex along Industrial Drive, where multiple steel constructed retail buildings were destroyed, in addition to 3 large warehouses at the static control facility. Winds In this area likely exceeded 160 mph. The tornado then destroyed the Tractor Supply Company, Big Lots and the Lowes Home Improvement Store along highway 421. Winds in this area were estimated around 140 mph. Two homes were blown off their foundations along Rice Road, north of NC Highway 42. Another fatality occurred along Poplar Spring Church Road when a mobile home was lifted off the ground and and then thrown into the woods and destroyed. In total, 457 homes were damaged with 116 homes being destroyed. Seventeen businesses were damaged as well. The tornado continued northeast along Avent Ferry Road, crossing into Chatham County, just east of Harris Lake.

The tornado exited Chatham County and entered southwest Wake County as an EF0. There was multiple tree and roof damage along Avent Ferry Road, southwest of Holly Springs. The tornado intensified to an EF1 with winds of 86 mph as it reached Fire Station Number Two and the Holly Glenn Subdivision before crossing highway 55 and tracking through the Remington subdivision. The tornado continued to track northeastward and caused extensive tree damage and damage to numerous homes, mainly from fallen trees along Pierce Olive, Ten-Ten, Penny Road, and Yates Mill Pond roads, as wind speeds increased to around 100 mph. The tornado crossed Tryon Road, between Lake Wheeler Road and the Raleigh Golf Association Golf Course, before tracking northeast across the entire City of Raleigh, producing EF1 damage in a narrow swath between 50 to 100 yards. It crossed directly over Interstates 40-440, between exits 297 and 298 with damage on both sides of the interstate clearly visible. The tornado continued northeast across South Saunders Street, where 4 businesses were damaged. A body shop was completely destroyed when the roof was ripped off and the side walls collapsed. The tornado continued to snap hardwood trees and power-lines near Mount Hope Cemetery and nearby homes. The tornado weakened as it moved northeast towards Shaw University. Campus dormitories and the university student center had windows blown in with roof damage. The tornado moved northeast along the east side of the major high rise buildings in downtown Raleigh, downing hundreds of trees, many of which fell on houses. The historic Oakwood to Lion`s Park sections of town, including the historic Oakwood Cemetery were hardest hit. Also in the path of the tornado was Saint Augustine`s College, which sustained roof damage to every building on campus. The tornado continued to down trees on numerous homes as it crossed North King Charles Road to Yonkers Road, producing EF1 damage to several businesses. The tornado crossed the 440 beltline for a second time, this time on the northeast side of downtown Raleigh near the intersections of Westinghouse and Brentwood roads, again causing damages to several businesses, including the Raleigh Iceplex. The tornado then strengthened to an EF2 with winds greater than 110 mph as it continued northeast producing extensive tree damage in a 100 to 200 yard wide path from Stony Brook Drive to Buffalo Road. Snapped trees crashed onto and through numerous homes all along the path. Four fatalities occurred when a large tree fell|onto a mobile home. Two other mobile homes were thrown 30 to 50 feet when the tie downs snapped from their anchor points with nearly all of the mobile homes in the Stony Brook mobile home park sustained some type of damage. The EF2 tornado continued to move northeast across Buffalo Road, near the Cardinal Grove Subdivision. Several two story homes were completely destroyed with numerous other homes sustaining moderate to major damage. Damage consistent with an EF2 tornado continued with widespread damage in a 200 yard wide swath along Forestville road. A couple of mobile homes were destroyed and several two story homes suffered extensive roof damage, with continued numerous snapped trees falling on houses. The tornado weakened or lifted as it moved northeast towards Rolesville. Damage became very sporadic and isolated in nature as it neared the Franklin County line. In total, 2270 homes were damaged, including 67 homes that were destroyed, with another 184 homes experiencing major damage. There were also 34 businesses damaged.

The deaths

6 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.

10 minutes of warning. NWS RAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:43 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:06 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 16:05 UTC and running to 22:49 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:31 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.

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:54 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.