EF-1 Tornado impacted portions of Rowan County Monday evening.

On Monday evening just before 5pm Tornado Warnings were issued for portions of southern Rowan County as an EF-1 tornado was crossing from Iredell County into Rowan County. 

The tornado began an almost 40-mile path starting in Catawba county reaching max wind speeds of around 110mph. before coming to an end here in Rowan County. The full summary as provided by the National Weather Service.

4:22 pm until 5:22pm Aug 7th, 2023 :  An EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 110mph tracked across portions of Catawba, Iredell and Rowan Counties on the afternoon of August 7th. The tornado touched down between Conover and Claremont on Kelly Blvd where large tree branches were snapped. The tornado moved southeast and continued to snap large tree limbs as it neared the Murrays Hill community. The tornado began to strengthen and reached EF-1 intensity as it crossed NC Highway 10 where trees were uprooted with additional trees snapped/uprooted along Murrays Mill Rd and Sherrills Ford Rd with winds reaching 100-110mph. The tornado-maintained EF-1 intensity as it passed just north of Sherrills Ford downing trees along Long Island Rd, Hopewell Church Rd and Mollys Backbone Rd. The tornado crossed Lake Norman and moved into Iredell County downing many trees along Northview Harbor Dr, Penicillin Pt and Fern Hill Rd. As the tornado neared Mooresville it began to lose intensity and weakened to an EF-0 with 70-85mph winds snapping numerous large tree branches and downing several trees across the north side of the city. The tornado briefly regained EF-1 intensity as it crossed into Rowan County along Highway 152 where 90-95mph winds uprooted/snapped numerous trees. The tornado lost intensity again as it neared Landis with 75-80mph winds snapping large limbs and downing several trees as the tornado moved through the city. The tornado dissipated just east of Interstate 85 between Lentz Rd and Daughtery Rd where mainly large limbs were downed with sporadic trees uprooted.

I sat down for an interview with NBC Charlotte Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich about the path of the tornado and wind damage from the storm around the county. 

For continuing updates on this story please stay with Rowan County Weather.