ASHEBORO NC – It seems Randolph County was spared the worst of yesterday’s storms, but just barely. The National Weather Service in Raleigh confirmed that 2 tornadoes touched down in the Triad yesterday. The closest an EF-0 which struck High Point, just a few miles over the county line.
Following yesterday’s storms, the National Weather Service in Raleigh sent survey teams to look over the damage to determine if radar indicated rotation and reports of funnel clouds was actually a tornado that touched down.
HIGH POINT
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in High Point for around 5 minutes with winds of 85 MPH for a distance of approximately 1 mile.
Van Denton was on air at 5 PM as the tornado passed over the station forcing the anchors to evacuate the studio live on air.
WHITSETT
The National Weather Service also confirmed an EF-1 tornado hit Whitsett and over 5 minutes and 2.5 miles traveled into Burlington with wind speeds up to 100 mph.
Storm reports from the National Weather Service as well as photos and videos posted to social media show that the storm knocked down trees, snapped telephone poles, damaged roofs, and even flipped tractor-trailers on their side on I-40 in Gibsonville. Thankfully no serious injuries or deaths were reported. Tornado reports from the National Weather Service are preliminary at this time as they are still working to gather more data.