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5:02 a.m. • 5-26-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 75° F
  • Mon: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 80° F
  • Tue: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 85° F

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> 7 Day Forecast

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Published: 2012-08-13 12:56:00
Updated: 2012-08-13 13:08:18

Posted: August 13, 2012

National Weather Service: Saturday storm was tornado

Storm damage in Stantonsburg, NC, Aug. 11, 2012.
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Storm damage in Stantonsburg, NC, Aug. 11, 2012.
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Stantonsburg, N.C. — The National Weather Service confirmed on Monday that the violent storm that swept the Wilson County community of Stantonsburg Saturday afternoon was an EF-1 tornado. Winds in the storm peaked at 105 mph, and the tornado was on the ground for about a quarter-mile.

Eastern Wilson and Edgecombe counties were under a tornado warning for about an hour Saturday afternoon as a line of fast-moving, severe thunderstorms marched east, leaving a swath of property damage.

No one was injured, but the storm blew apart resident Robert Watson's carport, garage and SUV and damaged his living room. "Just a couple of minutes and it was over with," he said.

Emergency personnel said the winds lifted a neighboring home off the foundation.

Earlier on Saturday, an outbreak of whipping winds prompted a short-lived tornado warning in Nash and Halifax counties. 

 

Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

9 Comments


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rwest134 actually it does matter. It verifies that accuracy of their warnings. Verifying accuracy shows what they are doing right or perhaps wrong in some cases. It could eventually lead to less false alarms and better lead time when tornado is on your doorstep. It is called sound science and it could save your life one day.
jgilchr
August 13, 2012 7:15 p.m.
"the forecast says 90% chance of rain and it barely rains at all." - injameswetrust2003

90% chance means it will rain _somewhere in the forecast area_ 9 out of 10 times. It missed you that time.
DontAnnoyMe
August 13, 2012 5:35 p.m.
This weekend's 'stormy' weather in the Triangle was an absolute joke.
Click to view my profile Keyboard cat
August 13, 2012 4:21 p.m.
americaneel: Here's another mystery: the forecast says 90% chance of rain and it barely rains at all.
Click to view my profile injameswetrust2003
August 13, 2012 3:57 p.m.
Some of it has to deal with insurance purposes depending on if it actually was a tornado or just simply striaght line winds. Also, I think it is very important to track and determine tornado outbreaks as we are still learning how these are produced and what produces them. The more we can learn about tornadoes the more lives we might be able to save one day.
Click to view my profile IBleedRedandWhite
August 13, 2012 3:04 p.m.
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