November 22, 1992 North Carolina Tornado Outbreak
Updated 2007/11/18
Overview
North Carolina was hit hard by a total of 5 tornadoes from the late evening hours
of November 22, 1992 through daybreak on November 23, 1992. These tornadoes were
a part of a large,
late season tornado outbreak that affected much of the southeastern
part of the United States from Houston, Texas across portions of the Gulf Coast states and Ohio Valley to
the Carolinas. In North Carolina alone, two persons were killed and 74 were injured.
There were also 110 homes and 7 businesses destroyed across the state. An additional
600 homes and several other
businesses were damaged, resulting in over 9 million dollars in damage.
The tornado outbreak began in eastern Texas during the afternoon of November 21. The
severe weather then spread east across Louisiana and Mississippi during the
early morning hours of November 22. The storms moved northeast and produced additional
tornadoes across Alabama, Georgia, and into western North Carolina during the
afternoon and evening on November 22. The last tornado was reported in
central and eastern North Carolina during the early morning of November 23.
Synoptic Weather Pattern
Data from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) shows that an
anomalously deep 500 mb trough was located over central Texas on the
evening of November 21, 1992. As the day of November 22nd progressed,
the upper low ejected out of Texas as it became negatively tilted and
moved into the Ohio Valley. Strong southwesterly flow developed ahead
of the shortwave energy and helped to push a warm front well north of
central North Carolina. A strong cold front moved into central North
Carolina during the evening of the 22nd and cleared the coast by the
morning of the 23rd. It was ahead of this front that the air mass become
unstable enough to produce severe thunderstorms. There was also
sufficient wind shear in place to result in tornadic activity. Surface
lifted indices of -4C to -5C were noted immediately ahead of the
approaching cold front. This allowed middle to upper 60 dew point air to
spread into the affected area with precipitable water values climbing
to 1.5 inches (nearly 300% above the normal November value). Surface observations
from across central NC reported temperatures in the low 70s with south winds
at 10-15 mph with higher gusts. Most locations also reported mostly
cloudy to cloudy skies with cloud bases at or below 2,000 ft. This moist
air mass and resultant low lifting condensation levels (LCLs) were favorable
for the development of tornadoes.
Timeline of Events
The first set of tornadoes occurred across the southwestern Piedmont of North Carolina
northeast into the northwest Piedmont and foothills area during the late evening hours on
November 22. A cluster of supercell thunderstorms formed over Cleveland County and moved
northeast through Hickory, Statesville, Winston-Salem and Danbury between 1015 PM and
1230 AM. The first tornado (F0) touched down at 1015 PM in Cleveland County near
Belwood, followed by another tornado (F1) that tracked across northeastern Catawba County
into Iredell County. The tornado took a track from near Catawba, to south of Olin,
to near Turnersburg. The final tornado in this small family of tornadoes touched down
in southeastern Yadkin County, then raced northeast across eastern Yadkin, northwestern
Forsyth, and into central Stokes County. Although there were 15 injuries associated
with these tornadoes, there were no fatalities.
The second tornado event started as a large but isolated supercell formed over Chatham County
before 200 AM, then moved northeast across
Orange and Durham Counties between 200 AM and 300 AM. The thunderstorm spawned an F3
tornado touching down near the I-40/I-85 split and tracking northeast into a Hillsborough
subdivision at around 220 AM. Although this tornado stayed on the
ground only 5.5 miles and lasted less than 10 minutes, it produced 2 fatalities and 10
injuries along its path.
The final round of severe weather began when a large supercell thunderstorm developed
over eastern Harnett county at around 400 AM. This storm tracked rapidly
northeast to near Elizabeth City by around 630 AM. The tornado initially touched down
as an F3 tornado at 410 AM between Angier and Coats near the Harnett and Johnston county
line. This tornado then moved northeast for 160 miles before lifting (a North Carolina record).
The tornado produced a nearly continuous path of F2 and occasionally F3 damage from
Wilson Mills in central Johnston County through Wilson, just south of Tarboro in Edgecombe
County, through northwest Martin County, across Bertie
County including Windsor, finally passing through Chowan, Perquimans, and Pasquotank
Counties. In Pasquotank County at Elizabeth City, a school bus in route to school was
carried 75 yards, injuring 21 people. The tornado dissipated before crossing the
Pasquotank River.
References
National Weather Service Storm Data
Natural Disaster Survey Report, The Widespread November 21-23, 1992, Tornado Outbreak:
Houston to Raleigh and Gulf Coast to Ohio Valley, US Dept. of Commerce, Nov. 1993.
Local National Weather Service Raleigh Storm Data
Case Study Team
Phillip Badgett
Jason Beaman
Rod Gonski
Kermit Keeter
Jonathan Blaes
|
|
