June 29, 2004 - Tornado Near Kinston

Event Overview

There was a very unusual tornado during the evening hours of June 29, 2004. The tornado was spotted in the vicinity of Kinston and tracked slowly westward towards LaGrange. It was a very weak tornado rated F0 on the Fujita scale. This landspout type funnel was associated with a low tropped tropical shower, which became more vigorous when it intereacted with the sea-breeze front. There was a visual confirmation of a touchdown near Kinston, with numerous reports of a rotating funnel from Lenoir County Emergency Management, spotters, local media. and the public. The tornado then went on to do very minor damage to a mobile home just east of LaGrange. There was only some weak rotation apparent on radar from the Raleigh NWS office radar. Interestingly, when the tornado/funnel was first occurring, no observations of lightning were detected, and there was not much vertical development of the storm. However, there was strong convergence of unstable air in the vicinity of the spin-up. After interacting with the sea-breeze, the convection intensified and lightning developed. One tornado warning was issued by the NWS in Newport for this event.

Radar Imagery

June 29, 2004 Radar Imagery - Click for Loop

June 29, 2004 Severe Weather Reports

Preliminary Local Storm Reports:

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0709 PM     TORNADO          KINSTON                     35.31N 77.72W 
06/29/2004                   LENOIR             NC   PUBLIC

0725 PM     TORNADO          4 E LA GRANGE           35.31N 77.72W 
06/29/2004  F0               LENOIR             NC   PUBLIC          

            MINOR DAMAGE TO MOBILE HOME.

Tornado Near Kinston