For many in North Carolina, April 16, 2011, is a date that's cemented in our memory. It was a day when 30 tornadoes tore through the state, injuring hundreds and killing two dozen people.
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We look back on the meteorology and memories from one of the state's most active weather days on record.
Here is a link to the story we did last year about the outbreak.
What caused the outbreak, and what made it so bad?
I went back and took a snapshot of the surface analysis from that Saturday afternoon. The dynamics at play are similar to what you would see in the Plains and the Deep South. Instability, spin, rising air and wind shear were all maximized in the Carolinas, helping to fuel several supercell thunderstorms (rotating storms).
30 tornadoes were confirmed across North Carolina. While many were EF-0 or EF-1, which is most typical in North Carolina, there were several strong tornadoes that were EF-2 or EF-3 in strength.
Two of the tornadoes, both of which were in the WRAL viewing area, accounted for 88% of tornado damage that day in North Carolina.
The one that traveled from near Carthage to Wake Forest left a path of damage through Sanford, Holly Springs and Raleigh. Upon reviewing data from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, we found that this twister is the third-longest on record in the state.
It traveled 65 miles.
What are some of the archived photos and videos that stand out from that day?
Of course, we could take up a lot of space with the many photos and videos from that day.
Below are a few samples of what this storm did in our area.
You can watch Sky 5 video of damage done to the Lowe's in Sanford below:
Below is one of the images I remember most from the outbreak. It was in Harnett County, where crews immediately began searching for a missing toddler.
The Saint Andrews neighborhood was hit hard as several homes slid off their foundation.
This is a look at a tornado as it moved by the Golden Corral in Wilson.
Here's another picture of one of the long-track tornadoes that moves through Benson in Johnston County.
A historic cemetery in Raleigh faced significant damage from the EF-3 tornado that moved through Wake County that day.
I've shared a few pictures of the damage I saw in Holly Springs that day below.
What do we remember from the storm?
WRAL's Mike Maze was on air for hours straight, covering more than 30 tornado warnings. When I asked Maze what he remembered from that day, this was his response.
"It had to have been the most challenging day of my 35 year career in broadcasting. Not only from the length of time we were non-stop on the air…from roughly 2 p.m. through 11:30 p.m. but the concern and thought that we were going to lose people from these long track tornadoes. What made it worse on a personal level for me, is I had friends and family in the path of one of the tornadoes and I couldn’t pick up my phone to call and warn them. I felt helpless. I had to hope and pray they were watching. This was the single worst outbreak since the Red Springs tornadoes from 1984."
Former WRAL meteorologist, Nate Johnson, tells us:
"For most folks in our part of NC who don’t storm chase in the Plains, that will be among the worst severe weather days they’ll ever live through. The last one anywhere close it was more than 25 years before. I didn’t realize until talking with my mom afterward that I’d been in the last one, too, as a kid, and that was a surreal realization. After I wrapped my portion of the coverage (after eight hours or so on the air), I remember walking down the hall next to the studio with my hands on my head, wondering if what had happened was real."
Johnson also posted this thread on X during the 10-year anniversary of the storm.
I was a student at NC State at the time, but I was at my parents' house in Fuquay-Varina. Thankfully, we had a basement and that's where I camped out with our family dog (a poodle named Pebbles). My brother took a direct hit at work, which was Rudino's in Holly Springs.
After the storm, I went through Holly Springs to look at damage with a friend of mine. He's from Iowa and had been through storms like this before.
What do you remember from the storm?
Let us know. You can comment on this story on social media, or you can send us your reports and pictures through Report It here.