Storm Report from 3/7/04!

[Skywatch_NC]

Had wind gusts up to 50-70 mph here in NC last night...reckon it was around 45 mph here in my area of Roanoke Rapids along with c-g lightning, heavy rain at times (gauge only measured .10" due to horizontal blowing of the rain!) and thunder! No damage in my immediate neighborhood...and haven't noticed any since being out earlier on an errand and to lunch. I brought in my trash cans and a wheelbarrow into the garage to avoid them becoming flying projectiles...before the action moved in. High wind watch/warning was up until 10:30 pm ET and had some severe thunderstorm warnings for Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson counties to my south...also a severe thunderstorm warning for Wake County where my Dad lives in an apartment during the week...also a tornado warning for Hertford and Gates counties both to my east. By the looks of the radar seems the squall line of storms rapidly re-intensified just east of I-95! No severe t-storm or tornado warnings in Halifax County where I am.

Eric


Here's what I just found on the WeatherUnderground site for my county area:

Local Storm Report

03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.

Tree on house.


03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.
140 trees downed on 70 roads county wide.


03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.
Tree on car.


03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.
Tree on house.


03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.
140 trees downed on 70 roads county wide.


03/07/2004 0800 PM

Halifax, Halifax County

Non-tstm wnd d.
Tree on car.


Public Information Statement

Statement as of 11:30 am EDT on March 08, 2004

...High Wind Event Of Sunday March 7th...

A strong cold front accompanied by a very strong upper level disturbance raced across the area during the evening hours of Sunday March 7th. A large swath of high winds between 45 to 65 mph with some higher gusts impacted nearly all of central and eastern North Carolina. High winds just off the surface of the Earth were mixed down to the surface resulting in some damage. Damage reports received from emergency management consisted of mostly minor damage with some sheds and barns destroyed along with siding and shingles removed from some houses. Two Mobile homes were destroyed in Person County one the result of a falling tree. No injuries were reported in either of the homes.

Some wind observations were measured as follows...

Location wind (mph) Thomasville 74 Fayetteville 61 Youngsville 60 Greensboro (gso) 55 Summerfield 53 Henderson/Oxford 52 Rocky Mount (rwi) 52 Asheboro 51 Sanford 51 Winston Salem 50 Raleigh (rdu) 47 Roxboro 45 Roanoke Rapids 42

Some isolated wind gusts were higher than those recorded at observing stations and reached as high as 60 to 70 mph.

These dangerous winds downed numerous trees and power lines across the region leaving over 200,000 people without power. The lack of rain in some locations along with falling power lines resulted in numerous fires and The Burning down of a trailer near Fayetteville and another building near Bahama. Trees falling on homes also resulted in damage across many counties from the Piedmont to the coastal plain. The amount of widespread high wind in excess of 50 mph made this event unique since the high winds were not limited to just thunderstorms activity.

Winds of 50 to 60 mph will remove shingles, tear off siding and flip tractor trailers and Mobile homes. Some minor injuries were reported mainly from flying debris. No injuries were serious.

[Aslkahuna]

Mobile Homes in your area must not be anchored very well if 60-70mph winds will flip them. Mine is anchored quite well and has weathered gusts up to 89mph with no damage. Of course, my soil conditions are different here as I've got my anchors down into the caliche layer which is similar to having them in concrete down to a depth of 5 feet.

Steve

[Scott_inVA]

Mobile Homes in your area must not be anchored very well if 60-70mph winds will flip them. Mine is anchored quite well and has weathered gusts up to 89mph with no damage. Of course, my soil conditions are different here as I've got my anchors down into the caliche layer which is similar to having them in concrete down to a depth of 5 feet.

Steve

True, Steve.

Soil here is challenging; rock or red clay. I know of very few mobile homes anchored other than bolted onto pylons.

We seen them blown over in 70MPH microbursts or float away in rapid, but very shallow flood waters. During Isabel, dozens of totally unanchored mobiles washed away from lots in flood plains...go figure.

Scott