Tornado-Warned Storm Crosses Bladen, Sampson, Wayne Counties, N.C.
The National Weather Service's office in Wilmington, North Carolina, issued a Tornado Warning for East Central Bladen County, in the southeastern part of the state, at 1 p.m. EST on Nov. 6, 2026, after radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Lisbon, seven miles southeast of Elizabethtown, moving east at 30 mph. The same cell tracked east-northeast into Sampson and Wayne counties over the next two hours, prompting further warnings before it weakened.
The Wilmington office warned that flying debris would endanger people caught without shelter, that mobile homes could be damaged or destroyed, and that roofs, windows, vehicles and trees were at risk.
The storm prompted a second Tornado Warning at 1:53 p.m. EST, from the National Weather Service's office in Raleigh, for southwestern Wayne County and northeastern Sampson County in central North Carolina, after radar again showed rotation 13 miles southeast of Benson. The warning put the storm near Mount Olive around 2:10 p.m.
The Raleigh office said at 2:50 p.m. EST that the storm had weakened below severe limits and no longer appeared capable of producing a tornado; no tornado was confirmed during the sequence. The Tornado Warning for East Central Wayne County was allowed to expire at 3 p.m., though the agency said heavy rain remained possible with the storm.
