40
Recorded events
7
Direct deaths
213
Direct injuries
$371.3M
Property damage
Tornado in Wake County, North Carolina: 40 recorded events between 1950 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #620 nationally and #6 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Wake County, North Carolina: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Wake County is the 2010s, when 9 of the county's 40 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Wake County archive, tornado makes up 2.6% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #620 for this hazard and #6 within North Carolina, putting it in the 78.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Mar is the peak month for tornado in Wake County with 11 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-11-27 | EF4 | 83.0 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-16 | EF3 | 65.2 mi | 500 yd | Crossed in |
| 2019-05-13 | EF2 | 17.2 mi | 385 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-03-20 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1982-06-16 | EF2 | 5.0 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1981-02-11 | EF2 | 1.9 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1966-11-02 | EF2 | 64.5 mi | 77 yd | Crossed in |
| 1956-03-18 | EF2 | 0.3 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1952-04-05 | EF2 | 6.9 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1982-06-13 | EF1 | 0.3 mi | 13 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2011 | BURT | EF3 | 4 | 67 | $115.0M |
| Nov 28, 1988 | F4 | 2 | 105 | $250.0M | |
| Jun 13, 1982 | F1 | 1 | 0 | $25K | |
| Apr 15, 1996 | WENDELL | F1 | 0 | 26 | $3.0M |
| Nov 2, 1966 | F2 | 0 | 9 | $250K | |
| Mar 20, 1998 | GARNER | F2 | 0 | 2 | $650K |
| Feb 11, 1981 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Mar 6, 2011 | ROLESVILLE | EF0 | 0 | 1 | $100K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2024 | VARINA | EF1 | $120K |
| Dec 10, 2023 | MC CULLERS | EF1 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 2019 | WILLOW SPGS | EF0 | $50K |
| May 13, 2019 | KNIGHTDALE WNDLL ARP | EF2 | $1.0M |
| Apr 16, 2018 | KNIGHTDALE WNDLL ARP | EF1 | $150K |
| Mar 30, 2014 | WILLIAMS XRDS | EF0 | $5K |
| Mar 30, 2014 | SOUTH RALEIGH ARPT | EF0 | $8K |
| Sep 18, 2012 | ZEBULON | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2011 | BURT | EF3 | $115.0M |
| Mar 6, 2011 | ROLESVILLE | EF0 | $100K |
Other hazards here
More from Wake County
- Thunderstorm Wind 727
- Hail 393
- Flash Flood 280
- Lightning 41
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado remained a funnel as it roared over the Greenbrier Estates just east of US401. Trees were sporadically uprooted and snapped off. Several trees fell on homes and outbuildings. The tornado touched down on Highway 70 at a church. The roof of one section was taken off and the steeple was blown off the chapel. The debris from the church took out windows at a car lot across the street. A block way, the wind removed several large siding sheets from a business.
An EF-1 tornado briefly touched down approximately 5 miles north-northwest of Wendell, North Carolina on April 15, 2018. | |The tornado touched down near Hals Farm Road, just off of Edgemont |Road. The tornado tracked northward across an area consisting of a |mixture of trees, a barn, and a few homes, before crossing Sadie |Drive. The homes near the end of Sadie drive (near the cul-de-sac) |sustained minor damage to siding and some loss/damage to shingles. |Numerous trees were uprooted and several pine trees snapped off |approximately 15 to 25 feet up. An apparent outbuilding was also |destroyed at this location. The damage here was indicative of a weak |tornado with approximate peak wind speeds of 87 MPH, or EF-1 on the |Enhanced Fujita Scale. | |The tornado continued tracking northward through a wooded area |causing sporadic damage to trees. The tornado affected several homes |along Woodie Drive, off of Riley Hill Road, with one sustaining |significant damage from a tree falling through the roof of the home. |The tornado then lifted near Riley Hill Road.
A brief tornado touched down in the community of Willow Springs. The damage consisted of a combination of snapped and uprooted trees, minor siding damage to one home, and numerous fences blown down. Damage indicators suggested wind speeds of 75 to 85 mph.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Wake County, North Carolina?
40 tornado events are recorded in Wake County between 1950 and 2024, causing 7 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Wake County?
The strongest tornado on record in Wake County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Wake County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Wake County, North Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-carolina/wake-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.