Forecast
Weather records from March 28 indicate that an earlier tornado watch had been issued covering Northern Alabama and Georgia, and small tornadoes were reported in Barrow County (2:25 P.M., Eastern Standard Time) and Henry County (2:30 P.M., EST) in north Georgia. The first severe reports from North Carolina - golf-ball sized hail reports from Macon County, NC also occurred at this time. Severe storms began entering Western South Carolina by mid-afternoon, and tornado watches had been issued for most of South Carolina, North Carolina and a portion of Virginia.
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
| 24 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Sources:
| F# | Location | County | Time (EST) | Path length | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | ||||||
| F1 | Barrow | Barrow | 03:25 | 12 miles (19 km) |
1 Injury. Tornado in Barrow County W of Athens. | |
| F0 | Henry | Henry | 04:30 | 1-mile (1.6 km) |
Very brief touchdown SE of Atlanta. | |
| South Carolina | ||||||
| F1 | Due West | Abbeville | 04:30 | 3 miles (4.8 km) |
24 Injuries. Brief touchdown. | |
| F2 | Ware Shoals | Laurens | 04:40 | 18 miles (29 km) |
43 Injuries. Tornado moved between Ware Shoals and Laurens. 500 acres (2.0 km2) of timber was destroyed. 1 Death and 14 Injuries were also produced by non-tornadic damage in the Fountain Inn area of NW Laurens County. | |
| F2 | 1st Newberry | Newberry | 05:20 | 23 miles (37 km) |
1 Death, 38 Injuries. Large F2 tornado moved NE through downtown Newberry. The path of this storm was 3/4 of a mile in width in places. | |
| F3 | 2nd Newberry | Newberry | 05:40 | 19 miles (31 km) |
10 Injuries. Intense tornado touched down just east of downtown Newberry, and moved to the east. The two Newberry tornadoes destroyed 254 houses, 86 businesses, 45 trailers, 68 farm buildings, 7 large public buildings, and generated a total of $14,200,000 in damage. | |
| F4 | Winnsboro | Fairfield | 06:00 | 21 miles (34 km) | 5 Deaths, 49 Injuries. F4 tornado moved east through the northern edge of Winnsboro before crossing I-77, parallel to the previous tornado along much of its path; the circulation was up to 1.15-mile (1.85 km) in width. One death in a truck that was blown from the interstate. 40 homes leveled. Substantial downburst damage linked the paths of this and the subsequent three tornadoes. | |
| F4 | Kershaw | Kershaw, Lancaster | 06:20 | 4 miles (6.4 km) |
36 Injuries. Massive timber damage reported S of Kershaw, with one nearby neighborhood destroyed. | |
| F2 | 9 miles (14 km) north of McBee | Chesterfield | 06:40 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Tornado touched down in the Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, producing timber damage. | |
| F4 | Cash | Chesterfield | 06:45 | 7 miles (11 km) |
24 Injuries. Tornado touched down 8 miles (13 km) SW of Cheraw, and destroyed several homes in the community of Cash before dissipating along the Pee Dee River W of Bennettsville. -see section on this storm | |
| F4 | Bennettsville SC (1st), Fletcher SC, Johns NC | Marlboro SC, Scotland NC | 07:10 | 17 miles (27 km) |
7 Deaths, 100 Injuries. Tornado touched down very near the endpoint of the previous tornado, passing through N Bennettsville before dissipating near Laurinburg. Crossing the NC/SC line, it's area of circulation grew to 2 miles (3.2 km) in width. The Northwoods Shopping Center in Bennettsville was leveled. --see section on this storm | |
| F4 | Bennettsville SC (2nd), McColl SC, Maxton NC, Red Springs NC, Shannon NC, Parkton NC | Marlboro SC, Scotland NC,
Robeson NC, Cumberland NC |
07:20 | 45 miles (72 km) |
4 Deaths, 395 Injuries. Tornado touched down in SE Bennettsville, causing additional destruction in the town. Tornado was 2+ miles wide in places, and it paralleled the previous tornado at distances of less than 5 miles (8.0 km) to the state line. Damage in McColl and Red Springs was extreme. Every undestroyed building in the town of Red Springs received at least F1 damage. -see section on this storm | |
| F2 | west of Loris SC to Beaverdam NC | Horry SC, Columbus NC | 09:35 | 16 miles (26 km) |
8 Injuries. Tornado touched down NW of Conway, and was isolated from other tornado families in this outbreak. Tornado passed close to Loris, SC and Tabor City, NC. | |
| North Carolina | ||||||
| F1 | Fairview | Union | 06:10 | 0.5-mile (0.80 km) | Brief touchdown in northern Union County, in the Fairview community. This storm had produced large hail and wind damage reports across south Charlotte and Matthews shortly before this tornado. | |
| F3 | Roseboro, Salemburg | Bladen, Cumberland, Sampson | 07:45 | 40 miles (64 km) |
12 Deaths, 101 Injuries in Roseboro, Salemburg and Clinton. Storm leveled a huge area of forest and destroyed several houses in the Beaverdam community. Storm was nearly a mile wide. | |
| F2 | Rocky Mount | Nash | 08:10 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
F2 damage on the SW edge of Rocky Mount. | |
| F4 | Faison, Mount Olive | Sampson, Duplin, Wayne | 08:15 | 21 miles (34 km) |
3 Deaths, 149 Injuries. Strong F4 damage in the towns of Faison, Calypso and Mount Olive; damage path was up to 3/4 of a mile in width. Tornado passed directly through the campus of Mount Olive College, which sustained very severe damage. This and the previous Sampson County storm (two above) generated $25,000,000 in damage in that county alone. | |
| F3 | between LaGrange and Walnut Creek | Wayne, Lenoir | 08:30 | 9 miles (14 km) |
81 Injuries. Storm passed along the SE edge of LaGrange, destroying several homes. | |
| F4 | Winterville, Ayden, Greenville | Wayne, Lenoir, Greene, Pitt | 08:45 | 46 miles (74 km) |
16 Deaths, 153 Injuries. Tornado was up to 3/4 of a mile in width. Fatalities in Snow Hill, Winterville, Ayden & Greenville, where the southeastern suburbs and portions of the campus of East Carolina University experienced severe damage. 300 homes were leveled, most in Greenville. | |
| F3 | Lewiston Woodville | Bertie | 08:55 | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
6 Deaths, 19 Injuries. NW corner of Bertie County; tornado circulation was up to 1/2-mile (3.2 km) wide. Deaths were at a trailer park in the path of the storm. $5,000,000 in damage. | |
| F2 | Ahoskie | Bertie, Hertford | 09:10 | 5 miles (8.0 km) |
7 Injuries. F2 damage in Ahoskie. | |
| F1 | E of Cambridge | Hertford | 09:17 | 1-mile (1.6 km) |
Damage near Harrellsville and the Wiccacon River. | |
| F3 | Gatesville | Gates | 09:37 | 14 miles (23 km) |
2 Deaths, 10 Injuries. Several houses destroyed along mostly rural path through southern Gates County. Wind damage reports continued into rural parts of the city of Chesapeake, VA. | |
| F2 | Snug Harbor | Chowan, Perquimans | 10:15 | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
1 Death, 1 Injury. Southeast of Edenton; the last tornado of the outbreak. Began as a tornadic waterspout over the Albemarle Sound. | |
Read more about this topic: 1984 Carolinas Tornado Outbreak
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