The tornado that struck Raleigh on Saturday has caused a couple readers to ask if twisters ever have hit the incorporated Charlotte area.
I'll try to go into more detail on this Tuesday, but the quick answer is "Yes."
There have been about two dozen tornadoes in Mecklenburg County over the past 60 years, and most of them were inside the Charlotte city limits.
The most recent was May 9, 2008, when an EF0 tornado (weakest on the Enhanced Fujita scale of 0 to 5) hit northwest Charlotte. That twister developed in Gaston County and crossed into Mecklenburg after 1 a.m. It knocked down some trees, but to be honest with you, I don't remember that one very well.
Two other tornadoes in Charlotte are more memorable.
On March 8, 2005, an F1 twister touched down near 36th and North Tryon streets. That storm followed an eastward path, damaging roofs and snapping off the tops of trees for a few miles. It knocked down a tree on the campus of Cochrane Middle School in northeast Charlotte before lifting up.
About $50,000 damage was caused.
And on Sept. 7, 2004, an F2 tornado struck southwest Mecklenburg and southwest Charlotte. That storm caused about $150,000 damage. You might remember stories at the time, of teachers and students huddling in the hallway of Lake Wylie Elementary School with the tornado nearby.
That twister was caused by the remnants of Hurricane Frances as it pushed northward from Florida into the Carolinas. The remnants of Frances produced a single-day tornado record in South Carolina that day.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Charlotte has a tornado history
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18 comments:
Somehow Hurricane Hugo seemed to miss the cutoff.
That should be enough said on the subject as it relates to Charlotte.
What about the tornado that touched down in 1968 in the neighborhood of Rea Rd/Swan Run Area. Leveled several houses and did lots of destruction.
What about....stop making everything that happens in the world a Charlotte situation. What happened in Raleigh, happened there, not in Charlotte. Why not spend some time focusing on how those people can be helped instead of finding these pathetic excuses of how everything, i mean EVERYTHING relates to Charlotte. This newspaper is the biggest joke I have ever seen. No other southeastern newspaper is doing this. Atlanta, Birmingham, Mobile, Jackson, Nashville...they are writing about what happened, not how it poorly relates to their home.
Anon 5:46: I am SO with you! There's nothing Charlotte does better than make EVERYTHING about Charlotte.
There was a big twister that tore across east Independence Blvd. back in the 80's. It wrecked a flea market complex and tore down a bunch of trees in its path.
Freddy,
That one was in Union County. It hit the Sweet Union flea market.
I'm sick of hearing Walliegh Walleigh Walleigh all the time. Poor Walleigh. Gawd.
Yeah, what's they act like this paper is called the "Charlotte" Observer or something.
Jeez the guy was answering a reader's question.
"I'm sick of hearing Walliegh Walleigh Walleigh all the time. Poor Walleigh. Gawd."
Spoken like a true crybaby. Want some cheese with that whine?
You people complaining are PATHETIC. This is not the top story on the front page of the paper making this a Charlotte issue. This is a BLOG POST answering a question in the CHARLOTTE Observer.
You live bitter and petty lives and have nothing better to do other then complain complain complain about the paper. I hope the next tornado takes out you and your family so we never have to hear you complain about a BLOG POST again.
For crying out LOUD folks, it's a Charlotte newspaper. Secondly, it's about bringing up a simple bit of history as it involves the city and it's tornados. It's not like they didn't cover the freakin' Raleigh storms guys. How about getting a life somewhere other than the comment section of a news article?!
How about the tornado that brushed uptown in the late 90's?
I thought we had determined last week that this weather column was a waste of time and ink...and the guy keeps proving it....hey CO drop this please.
@Anonymous 9:20:
So you've determined that this column was a waste of time and ink, but yet you commented on it, which makes it a waste of time and typing for you!
Pretty sad, miserable life you must live!
I agree with the last commenter. I have no idea who "agreed" with it. The common theme in this blog is how much we enjoy it. If you don't there's an easy solution -- DON'T READ IT!
Steve, ignore the miserable and petty idiots who feel the need to be negative about every little thing. Their lives are so sad that they constantly feel the need to bring others down.
Many people greatly enjoy this blog. It's interesting and fun to read. Keep up the good work.
In the mid fifties, a tornado started near Providence Road, near the county line, cut across Tilly Morris Road leaving a swath of trees down about 50 yards wide. In continued on across Matthews-Weddington Road where it leveled a barn on the Black farm. Then it entered Union County and took out a house on Potter Road in Stallings, the only house that it destroyed or hit. You could see the swath on Tilly Morris for twenty five years if you knew to look for it.
In May 1972 or 1973, think it was 73, there was a tornado in the Plaza Midwood Area. Trees were on roofs of houses, trees down all over the neighborhood, trees sheered off at the tops. It was borderline between severe thunderstorm and tornado. There was quite a bit of hail, did damage to our car. We were driving to the Charlotte Observer building actually!
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