RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The National Weather Service in Raleigh has confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down Sunday afternoon in Garner, causing major damage in an area of the town.
Maximum winds were estimated to be 110 mph. The tornado was only on the ground for 4 minutes but ripped a path 1.5 miles long through Garner.
The tornado first touched down at approximately 12:30 p.m. Sunday after starting a mile west of Garner in Wake County, the weather service said.
Most of the damage was done in a neighborhood near Timber Drive and Woodland Road. There were numerous trees snapped in half and uprooted throughout the neighborhood, some of which fell on homes.
The National Weather Service performed a “storm damage survey” Sunday afternoon before confirming the tornado.
Weather officials in the Raleigh office earlier Sunday already said there was a “radar-confirmed” tornado, but were unsure if it formed and then touched down.
Amazingly, there were no reports of injuries due to the tornado.
The storms came on an unusually warm December afternoon that produced heavy rain throughout the day.
This also came when a majority of Central North Carolina was in a level one and level two severe weather threat and the CBS 17 storm team called for an Alert Day.