NORTH CAROLINA – The State Climate Office of North Carolina recently updated its list of largest single-day tornado outbreaks in the state. It may not come as much of a surprise that four of the five occurred during the spring months of April and May. The other was the result of a September hurricane.

1. April 16, 2011 - 30 tornadoes

While most tornadoes in North Carolina are short-lived, several on April 16, 2011 were long-track tornadoes. Two of the tornadoes were on the ground for over 55 miles. One tracked from near Sanford to Raleigh and the other from near Fayetteville to Smithfield.  The tornadoes that day caused 24 deaths and over 300 injuries.

2. May 7, 1998 - 20 tornadoes

Most of the 20 tornadoes touched down in the western Piedmont and Foothills region. The strongest tornado that day was rated an EF-4.  It touched down in Caldwell County and is only one of 13 EF-4 tornadoes on record for the state. The Enhanced Fujita scale is used to rate tornadoes based on strength from EF-0 to EF-5.  An EF-5 tornado has never been recorded in North Carolina.

3.  April 15, 1996 - 18 tornadoes

All of the 18 tornadoes occurred in central and eastern North Carolina from just east of Raleigh to east of I-95.  They were all rated between EF-0 and EF-2.

4.  September 15, 1999 - 17 tornadoes

Tropical systems often produce tornadoes as they move inland. However, the only tropical system to make the list for the five largest tornado outbreaks in North Carolina is Hurricane Floyd. While Floyd is most remembered for the devastating and deadly flooding that lasted for days after the storm, it also produced 17 tornadoes in mostly coastal counties.

5. April 13, 2020 - 16 tornadoes

The most recent tornado outbreak is now fifth on the list. As of April 20, National Weather Service offices across the state have confirmed 16 tornadoes touched down on April 13, 2020. It was a bit of an unusual outbreak in that all the tornadoes occurred between 6 and 11 a.m. While tornadoes can occur any time, day or night, most happen during the afternoon and evening hours. Had this storm system moved through the state later in the day, the number of tornadoes would have likely been higher.

 

 

It is interesting to note that the state's deadliest tornado outbreak does not make the list for the five largest. Forty-two people were killed in North Carolina on March 28, 1984 when 14 tornadoes touched down in the state. That outbreak is often called the Carolinas Outbreak. Another eight tornadoes were reported in South Carolina where 15 people were killed. An estimated 1,248 were injured across both states.

The list of largest tornado outbreaks was compiled by the State Climate Office using data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center that dates back to 1950.