EF1 tornado, Pumpkintown to Glenville, North Carolina, May 8, 2024

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 mphthis tornado

   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 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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 8, 2024

Touchdown

12:14 AM EDT (04:14 UTC)

Lifted

12:27 AM EDT (04:27 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

9.4 miles (15.1 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Jackson County

Touchdown point

35.246, -83.259

Lift-off point

35.204, -83.101

Record number

2405082214-01

45 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GSP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Numerous trees downed along Walking Stick Trail.
• Numerous trees uprooted along Big Pilot Mountain Road near the summit of Pilot Mountain.
• Large stand of healthy hardwood trees sustained considerable damage with a large percentage snapped or uprooted.
• Continued downing of trees from drone video.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A couple of waves of strong to severe thunderstorms moved from east Tennessee into western North Carolina...one during the afternoon and evening of the 8th, and another during the early morning of the 9th. Scattered severe storms produced several EF1 tornadoes, large to very large hail, and isolated swaths of damaging winds.

NWS storm survey found the path of a strong EF1 tornado that touched down in a heavily wooded area in the Cowee Mountains just east of Pumpkintown and near the Macon County line. The tornado produced minor tree damage as it ascended a ridge near Kirby Knob before rapidly strengthening as it descended through Cullowhee Gap and crossed Tilley Creek Rd. Multiple trees were uprooted along the road with numerous large branches snapped. The tornado quickly reached peak intensity just east of Tilley Creek Rd where an extensive swath of trees received considerable damage. Approximately 80% of the trees in this swath were either snapped or uprooted, with the trees still standing having multiple branches snapped off. The tornado continued as a high-end EF1, snapping or uprooting many trees as it passed just below Moss Knob, turning southeast into a remote and heavily wooded area as it continued to down numerous trees between Pine Knob and Low Ridge with the damage path focused near Whiterock Creek. Several trees were uprooted where the tornado crossed White Rock Rd near Cullowhee Mountain Rd before entering the Cullowhee Forest community where numerous trees were downed along Walking Stick Trail as the tornado paralleled Hunter Jim Creek. After exiting Cullowhee Forest, the tornado crossed the West Fork Tuckasegee River and Highway 107 just below Trout Creek Road. High-end EF1 damage was once again noted as the tornado crossed Highway 107 and ascended a ridge where a stand of trees received modest damage with approximately 60% of the trees felled. The tornado then passed through the northern portion of the Sims Valley community just on the south side of Trout Creek. Numerous trees were downed along the mountainside with several trees brought down in the Trout Creek Campground, which was on the northern fringes of the tornadic circulation. The tornado turned southeast one more time before dissipating in a wooded area near Big Ridge.

NWS storm survey found the path of a second EF1 tornado in Jackson County that touched down south of another tornado shortly before the earlier tornado ended. This brief tornado touched down in a wooded area just below Lake Glenville near Shoal Creek Mountain Road. The tornado crossed Shoal Creek Mountain Road twice where the road takes a sharp hairpin turn. The tornado reached peak intensity of in this area where numerous trees were uprooted or snapped with large branches also snapped off. The tornado crossed Highway 107 and moved northeast where it ascended Pilot Mountain, passing very close to the summit. A narrow and focused damage swath of downed trees was documented where the tornado crossed Big Pilot Mountain Road. The tornado descended Pilot Mountain into the Simms Valley community where a couple trees were uprooted and numerous large branches snapped. The tornado quickly turned to the north as it moved towards Trout Creek and dissipated as it merged with the broader area of rotation associated with the first tornado.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:12 UTC and running to 08:00 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 01:42 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.

Sylva (24A), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Greer radar (KGSP), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:15 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 2024 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

52 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.