2 tornadoes touch down in Lake Norman area during intense storms Monday, NWS says

Violent storms that knocked out power to tens of thousands of Carolinians spawned two tornadoes near Lake Norman Monday, one in Mecklenburg County and the other across parts of Catawba, Iredell and Rowan counties, the National Weather Service determined Tuesday.

No one was reported hurt in the storms, NWS meteorologist Bill Martin told The Charlotte Observer earlier Tuesday.

Across the NWS Greer office coverage area, one death was reported, he said, when a tree fell on someone in Anderson County, South Carolina.

EF-1 twister crossed three counties

An EF-1 tornado packing 110-mph winds uprooted many trees on a 37.41-mile path that began on Kelly Boulevard between Conover and Claremont in Catawba County, according to an NWS damage survey report late Tuesday.

EF-1 is considered weak on the NWS Enhanced Fujita Scale for tornado damage and wind speed, stronger only than an EF-0 among six classifications.

The twister carved a path 550 yards wide starting at 4:40 p.m., a team from the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, reported.

The tornado raced southeast across N.C. 10 and downed trees along Murrays Mill Road, Sherrills Ford Road, Long Island Road, Hopewell Church Road and Mollys Backbone Road, according to the report.

The tornado crossed Lake Norman into Iredell County, toppling trees along Northview Harbor Drive, Penicillin Point and Fern Hill Road on its march toward Mooresville, the NWS team said.

The tornado weakened to an EF-0 with winds of 70 mph to 85 mph as it whacked trees on the north side of Mooresville, according to the report.

The twister briefly strengthened into an EF-1 again while entering Rowan County along N.C. 152, lost intensity near Landis and dissipated at 5:22 p.m. just east of Interstate 85 between Lentz and Daughtery roads, according to the NWS.

Havoc in Mooresville

In Mooresville, flames tore through the roof of a business on Williamson Road at the lake after a lightning strike, the town said on Facebook Tuesday morning. Officials didn’t name the business.

Mooresville Fire-Rescue responded to about 80 calls, including large trees falling onto or into at least five homes and knocking down power lines and power poles, according to the town.

“And there were medical calls and traffic crashes,” town officials said on Facebook.

Tuesday morning, at least 2,000 Mooresville residents were still without power, town officials said.

Children screamed in the Super Target at N.C. 150 and Bluefield Road when the power went out about 5 p.m., according to a Charlotte Observer reporter shopping there at the time. The wind whipped a shopping cart across the parking lot.

Customers at the Super Walmart off Interstate 77 exit 36 in Mooresville posted pictures on Facebook of store employees clearing all coolers of dairy, meat and other perishables Tuesday morning and tossing the food into dumpsters. Electricity was finally restored at 6:30 a.m., customers said.

Tornado near Huntersville

An EF-0 tornado packing 85-mph winds caused minor damage to building exteriors and knocked down trees on a 1.8-mile path Monday afternoon, according to the NWS.

The tornado began just south of the lake, 3 miles southwest of Huntersville and 4 miles east of unincorporated Lowesville in eastern Lincoln County, according to the NWS damage survey report.

The twister carved a path 50 yards wide starting at 5:06 p.m. and dissipating at 5:10 p.m., the NWS team determined.

Storms grounded flights at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and at least 82,600 Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas remained without power late Tuesday morning.

Still without power at 10 p.m. Tuesday were 2,513 homes and businesses in Mecklenburg, 3,100 in Cabarrus, 2,947 in Iredell and 2,565 in Catawba counties, according to the Duke Energy outage map.

And 5,000 customers of Statesville-based EnergyUnited had no electricity Tuesday, its outage map showed. The electric co-op spans 19 N.C. counties, including parts of Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.

A reprieve, then more bad weather possible

The Charlotte area should see a reprieve on the violent weather, at least for Tuesday, Martin said.

More bad weather is forecast this week, according to an NWS hazardous-weather outlook bulletin Wednesday morning.

A cold front is expected to cross the area, with a few severe thunderstorms late Wednesday into Thursday.

Heavy rains and large hail could dump in the Carolinas, and more tornadoes are possible, the NWS said.