Deadly tornado hit Riegelwood,NC

[beaudodson]

Yeah appeared to be a strong F3 or weak F4 from the damage. Another Killer F3 - seems like the F3 is the new number one killer.


Here is the info

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC

530 PM EST FRI NOV 17 2006



...F3 TORNADO DAMAGE CONFIRMED AT RIEGELWOOD NC...



TODAY A NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM ASSESSED THE

TORNADO DAMAGE AT RIEGELWOOD...IN COLUMBUS COUNTY NC. THE DAMAGE WAS

RATED AT F3 ON THE FUJITA SCALE FOR NEARLY A MILE IN RIEGELWOOD...

WITH WINDS APPROACHING 200 MPH. THE MAXIMUM WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS

300 YARDS WHERE F3 DAMAGE OCCURRED. THE REST OF THE 7 MILE DAMAGE

PATH WAS NARROW...LESS THAN 100 YARDS WIDE...AND RATED AT F1...WITH

WINDS LESS THAN 100 MPH EXTENDING NORTH ACROSS COLUMBUS COUNTY INTO

WESTERN PENDER COUNTY.



THE TORNADO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 8 FATALITIES AND 20 INJURIES THAT

REQUIRED MEDICAL TREATMENT. THE COLUMBUS COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED 30

HOMES DESTROYED IN THE F3 DAMAGE AREA...AND ANOTHER 3 STRUCTURES

WERE DAMAGED IN PENDER COUNTY JUST WEST OF CURRIE.



THE TORNADO WAS SPAWNED FROM A LINE OF POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS

ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT THAT MOVED THROUGH THE CAROLINAS

EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.



A TORNADO WARNING HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR EASTERN COLUMBUS COUNTY AT 629

AM...AND PRIOR TO THAT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR

THE SAME AREA AT 621 AM. NOAA WEATHER RADIOS IN THE AREA

AUTOMATICALLY ALARMED FOR BOTH WARNINGS TO ALERT PEOPLE.



THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ENCOURAGES EVERYONE TO SERIOUSLY

CONSIDER YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY...AS WELL AS YOUR FAMILY...AND

PURCHASE A WEATHER RADIO FOR THE HOME OR BUSINESS. WHEN A WARNING IS

ISSUED THE RADIO WILL AUTOMATICALLY ALARM...GIVING YOU PRECIOUS TIME

TO PREPARE FOR A DANGEROUS SITUATION.



NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS IS THE ONLY GOVERNMENT RADIO SYSTEM

THERE IS...AND IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY ALARM TO ALERT YOU TO A WIDE

RANGE OF HAZARDS...OTHER THAN WEATHER.



FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS...PLEASE GO

TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE: http://HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV



$$



MAC/TM

 

[Jeff Snyder]

[FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]..F3 TORNADO DAMAGE CONFIRMED AT RIEGELWOOD NC

TODAY A NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM ASSESSED THE
TORNADO DAMAGE AT RIEGELWOOD...IN COLUMBUS COUNTY NC. THE DAMAGE WAS
RATED AT F3 ON THE FUJITA SCALE FOR NEARLY A MILE IN RIEGELWOOD...
WITH WINDS APPROACHING 200 MPH. THE MAXIMUM WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS
300 YARDS WHERE F3 DAMAGE OCCURRED. THE REST OF THE 7 MILE DAMAGE
PATH WAS NARROW...LESS THAN 100 YARDS WIDE...AND RATED AT F1...WITH
WINDS LESS THAN 100 MPH EXTENDING NORTH ACROSS COLUMBUS COUNTY INTO
WESTERN PENDER COUNTY. ... [/FONT]

[FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]
--> ILM NWSFO Damage Assessment

There were also 2 F3 tornadoes in the JAN NWSFO CWA... See HERE for their damage assessment.
[/FONT]

 

[Scott Olson]

Some very intense low level winds as sampled by 12z soundings. CHS sounding shows a 12kt wind going to 66kts at 869mb. MHX is similar going from 8kts to 48kts at 850mb. Riegelwood was likely in at least 50-55kts @ 850mb. Another interesting note about the CHS sounding is that the 900-850mb wind speeds are the highest until you get at and above 500mb. Both soundings showed well above 300 m2/s2 0-1km SRH and nearly non-existant CINH. LCL's were a good 300-400m lower then forecasted and 0-3km CAPE and MLCAPE both look decent given the shear.

The radar scans showed seem to show a pretty good indication prior to the tornado, though the storm moving nearly right over the radar wasn't helpful.

 

[Andrea Griffa]

Sure it was a very nice hook. Making the animation it seems that the supercell was one of those that originates from static convergence and that often in similar situations tends to produce tornadoes.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Some interesting info at the links below. Two of North Carolina's worst tornado events prior to this one were in 1992 and 1988, and both happened overnight in mid/late November.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/19921122/
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/19881128/

The 1988 event included an F4 which struck north Raleigh around 1AM.

In the same year (1988) there was another major outbreak on March 20:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/19980320/

 

[Brandon Clement]

The two F3's in Ms was only about 50 miles south of me but that area is very rural with a bad road network, tall trees and the storms were not exactly isolated so I didn't bother.

The radar grabs certainly indicated a tornado, the storm crossing over the radar didn't help matter but it sure made for some nice grabs after it moved a few miles away. Thanks for posting those.