National Weather Service Raw Text Product

998 
NOUS42 KRAH 152127
PNSRAH
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-160115-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
508 PM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012

...TORNADO CONFIRMED 7.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROCKINGHAM IN
RICHMOND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA...

LOCATION...7.5 MILES SW OF ROCKINGHAM IN RICHMOND COUNTY NC 
DATE...MAY 14... 2012
ESTIMATED TIME...12:55 PM TO 12:58 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...90 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH....100 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...34.827N / 79.834W 
ENDING LAT/LON...34.844N / 79.806W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH NC HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO 
WITH A BRIEF AND DISCONTINUOUS 2 MILE DAMAGE PATH...LOCATED ABOUT 
7.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROCKINGHAM IN RICHMOND COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 
ON MAY 14... 2012. 

AT APPROXIMATELY 12:55 PM EDT ON MONDAY MAY 14... 2012... WEAK AND 
VERY BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN A FORESTED AREA ABOUT 8.5 MILES 
SOUTHWEST OF ROCKINGHAM AND PRODUCED A SMALL AREA OF TREE DAMAGE 
WHICH INCLUDED UPROOTED AND SNAPPED PINE TREES. THE NUMBER OF TREES 
AND TYPE OF DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH WIND SPEEDS OF 75 MPH... 
WHICH CORRESPONDS TO AN EF0 DAMAGE RATING ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA 
SCALE. THE ORDER IN WHICH THE TREES FELL AND LANDED ON EACH OTHER 
CONFIRMED THAT A TORNADO HAD TOUCHED DOWN IN THIS AREA AND THAT THIS 
WAS THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN ALONG THE PATH.

THE NEXT AREA OF DAMAGE ALONG THE DISCONTINUOUS DAMAGE PATH WAS 
ABOUT ONE-TENTH OF A MILE TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN... 
OR APPROXIMATELY 8.3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROCKINGHAM. ALTHOUGH MUCH OF 
THE DAMAGE IN THIS AREA WAS MINOR AND INCLUDED ROOF COVERING AND 
SHINGLE DAMAGE AND BROKEN TREE LIMBS... THERE WAS A SMALL AREA OF 
ENHANCED DAMAGE THAT INCLUDED NUMEROUS SNAPPED AND DOWNED TREES... A 
CARPORT THAT WAS LIFTED AND TOSSED APPROXIMATELY 250 YARDS... A 
SMALL TIN AND ALUMINUM FRAMED GARAGE THAT WAS LEVELED... AND A 
SINGLE STORY HOME WITH DAMAGE THAT EXHIBITED THE UPLIFTING OF ITS 
ROOF... LOSS OF APPROXIMATELY 30 PERCENT OF ITS ROOF COVER... AND 
NUMEROUS BROKEN WINDOWS. THIS DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH WIND SPEEDS 
OF APPROXIMATELY 90 MPH... WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A LOW-END EF1 DAMAGE 
RATING ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. THE WIDTH OF THE DAMAGE PATH 
WAS APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS AT THIS LOCATION.

THE TORNADO THEN APPEARED TO LIFT... AND THE FINAL TOUCHDOWN AND 
NOTABLE DAMAGE AREA (END OF THE TRACK PATH) WAS LOCATED 
APPROXIMATELY 6.8 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF ROCKINGHAM. DAMAGE IN 
THIS AREA INCLUDED A SIGNIFICANT SWATH OF DOWNED AND SNAPPED PINE 
TREES... WITH A WIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS. THE PERCENTAGE OF 
DOWNED TREES AND TYPE OF DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH WIND SPEEDS OF 
90 MPH... WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A LOW-END EF1 DAMAGE RATING ON THE 
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED AT APPROXIMATELY 12:58 PM EDT AND 
DISSIPATED... AND NO FURTHER DAMAGE WAS FOUND.

IN ADDITION TO THE BRIEF TORNADO TOUCH DOWNS ALONG THE 2 MILE 
PATH... OTHER MINOR WIND DAMAGE ALONG OR NEAR THIS PATH WAS 
CONSISTENT WITH STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE
RICHMOND COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES STAFF AND DIRECTOR FOR THEIR
ASSISTANCE WITH CONDUCTING THIS DAMAGE SURVEY.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/RAH.

FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

NP