Carolinas Tornado Outbreak: March 28, 1984
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY/NWS) — Today marks the 34th anniversary of the Carolinas Tornado Outbreak of 1984. It was one of the deadliest, most destructive tornado outbreaks in the history of North and South Carolina.
According to the National Weather Service, the weather situation that produced this outbreak has strong parallels to the 1925 Tri-State Tornado Outbreak in that the tornadoes tracked along with the center of a strong low pressure system. The only other local events with a similar size and scope were the Enigma Outbreak of February 19-20, 1884 which killed least 50 people in North and South Carolina, and the April 16, 2011 outbreak which produced 30 confirmed tornadoes in North Carolina alone.
The statistics of this outbreak are staggering and perhaps unprecedented in the history of North or South Carolina. The final count shows 24 individual tornadoes touched down: 11 in North Carolina, 11 in South Carolina, and 2 in Georgia. The human impact included 57 fatalities, (42 in North Carolina, 15 in South Carolina, none in Georgia) and 1248 injuries. (799 in North Carolina, 448 in South Carolina, and 1 in Georgia)
Selected Tornado Reports from March 28, 1984:
Bladen, Cumberland, and Sampson Counties: A tornado (F3) touched down 5 miles northeast of Tobermory in northwestern Bladen County and travelled along the ground through Cumberland and Sampson counties. The path was 0.8 miles wide and 40 miles long. The tornado struck the community of Beaver Dam, the town of Salemburg, rural areas of Roseboro, and rural areas near Clinton. This tornado killed 12 and injured 101 people as it moved at nearly 60 miles per hour. Damage exceeded 5 million dollars.
Horry County, SC into Columbus County, NC: An F2 tornado touched down north of Conway, South Carolina and moved northeast into Columbus County at Tabor City. This path width was 0.2 miles and the path length was 16 miles, only 2 miles of which actually occurred in North Carolina. There were eight injuries in South Carolina and none in North Carolina. Damage exceeded $500,000.
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