Tornado History Map

Wake Forest, North Carolina tornado path, 27 November 1988

Rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. The recorded path is shown on the map and selected for you.

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Years1950 to 2025
Rating (F or EF scale)

Shows tornadoes that started in, or crossed, the chosen state. To see how many have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • F0 / EF0 Light damage
  • F1 / EF1 Moderate damage
  • F2 / EF2 Considerable damage
  • F3 / EF3 Severe damage
  • F4 / EF4 Devastating damage
  • F5 / EF5 Incredible damage
  • Unknown Not rated (2007 onwards)

How to read the lines. Each line is one tornado, drawn from where it started to where it ended, coloured and sized by its rating. A dot means the record has no end point. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see how many tornadoes have passed nearby. Weaker tornadoes appear as you zoom in. Ratings use the Fujita (F) scale before 1 February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from then on.

What the record says

On 27 November 1988, a tornado touched down near Wake Forest, North Carolina. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 83 miles long and up to 400 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 4 people and injured 154.

  • F4Fujita rating
  • 4deaths
  • 154injuries
  • 83 mipath length
  • 400 ydmaximum width

It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5 and it killed three or more people.

This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.

Counties it crossed

The start point was at 35.87, -78.75 and the end point at 36.45, -77.42 (latitude, longitude).

How to read this path

The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.

Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.

Other notable tornadoes in North Carolina

Other notable tornadoes of 1988

All tornadoes of 1988 · North Carolina tornado history · All notable tornadoes

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