The National Weather Service office in Wilmington rated two tornadoes that struck southeastern North Carolina on Sunday, October 11, as EF0, the lowest rung of the Enhanced Fujita scale. One touched down near Clarendon in Columbus County at 12:03 p.m. and lasted about a minute, and the other cut a 1.68-mile path through Bladen County near East Arcadia.
Save more, waste less: The Cool Down’s newsletter sends smart, simple changes that help you and the planet in your everyday life.
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
Neither storm was large by tornado standards, but the first one wrecked a family’s farm buildings and the second left neighbors with a day of cleanup.
The Columbus County tornado near Clarendon
The Wilmington office’s October 2026 tornado survey lists the Clarendon storm as an EF0 with peak winds of 80 mph, a path of 0.13 miles and a maximum width of 20 yards. It began at 12:03 p.m. Eastern time and ended a minute later, about two miles northeast of Clarendon. On a property along Roseland Road, east of Joe Brown Highway South, several open farm buildings were destroyed when their roofs lifted and walls failed, and an empty grain bin was lifted off its foundation and shifted. Sheet metal and wood debris was scattered along a narrow path, including into tree canopies and an adjacent field.
WECT reported that the confirmed EF0 destroyed one family’s property. Homeowner Roy McPherson described the experience to the station on the afternoon of the storm, when the event was still classed as an unconfirmed tornado. That earlier report said a tornado warning had been issued before the storm reached his home, that his family sheltered in a bathtub, and that everyone was okay. It also described a damaged outdoor garage, snapped power lines, metal thrown into nearby trees, and a roof torn completely off a shop the family owns.
The Bladen County tornado near East Arcadia
The Bladen County storm was weaker in peak intensity but far longer and broader. The survey puts its peak winds at 75 mph and its maximum width at 235 yards, with a start at 12:54 p.m. one mile southwest of East Arcadia and an end at 12:58 p.m. one mile north of the town. Surveyors described it as a weak but broad tornado, and it crossed the Cape Fear River. WECT summarized the finding that the tornado snapped or uprooted trees along a 1.68-mile path on Sunday.
The survey details where. Large trees were snapped or uprooted near East Arcadia Road and Old Lake Road, limbs came down along East Arcadia Road, a large pine fell on Kennedy Road, and debris turned up along Smith Road. The most significant damage was along Graham Road near a turf field, where several large softwood trees were downed and debris was scattered about 150 yards. A report from Atkinson of a possible sighting turned up no damage. The survey page lists no injuries or fatalities for either tornado.
Two tornadoes in two adjoining counties within an hour match the warnings issued that day. WECT reported that the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for parts of southeastern and central North Carolina after radar showed rotation in several severe thunderstorms, and that Pender, Columbus, Bladen and Duplin counties were all under warnings early Sunday afternoon. By 2:07 p.m. the station said all of the day’s warnings in southeastern North Carolina had expired.
What an EF0 rating means
EF0 is the entry level of a scale that runs from zero to five. The National Weather Service explains that the Enhanced Fujita scale estimates wind speed from the damage a tornado causes, using 28 damage indicators such as building types, structures and trees, each with eight degrees of damage. An EF0 corresponds to gusts of 65 to 85 mph, which brackets both the 75 mph and 80 mph estimates in the Wilmington survey. The scale was fully implemented on February 1, 2007, and replaced the original Fujita scale that T. Theodore Fujita developed in 1971.
Mid-October is not a season most residents associate with twisters, but the National Weather Service states on its tornado safety page that tornadoes can occur at any hour and in any season. It describes them as violently rotating columns of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground, most common in the Central Plains and the southeastern United States, and reported in all 50 states. Even the weakest rating on the scale belongs to a storm capable of lifting roofs, shifting heavy equipment and snapping mature trees, as both Sunday survey results showed.
The warning sequence on October 11 followed the shelter guidance WECT repeated that day: people in a warned area should move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, away from windows, while anyone outdoors, in a mobile home or in a vehicle should get to substantial shelter. The McPherson family’s choice of a bathtub is an example of that approach in practice, and the family was unhurt.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
Save more, waste less: Subscribe to The Cool Down →
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
More from Morning Overview
- Tropical Storm Rachel is dumping up to 12 inches on four Mexican states on its way to major hurricane strength
- The FTC says Lens.com doubled the price shoppers saw in Google ads
- Common allergy, bladder and sleep pills tied to sharply higher dementia odds
- NOAA now gives this winter a 75% chance of the strongest El Nino since 1950
