Imagine being jarred awake by a tornado raking through your area while you’re asleep after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over.
That’s what happened just around midnight on Nov. 28, 1988, 37 years ago today. A violent tornado tore through the north side of the Raleigh, North Carolina metro area, killing two. It first formed near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, then went on to damage almost 2,500 homes and over 75 businesses in the metro area. Total damage in Wake County, alone, was estimated at $250 million, according to NOAA.
But this tornado wasn’t done. It carved an 83-mile long path through five other counties in northeast North Carolina. Two others were killed in Nash County. In all this long-track tornado left 154 injured and 982 without shelter.
This same supercell thunderstorm spawned a pair of additional F2 tornadoes into southeast Virginia, the last of which ended just west of Norfolk…