Thunderstorms and Strong Winds on March 12, 2022

Damaging wind gusts occurred across portions of eastern North and South Carolina during the morning of March 12, 2022 along and ahead of a strong cold front. The highest winds occurred along the coast and offshore where an anemometer atop Frying Pan Tower recorded a gust to 97 mph at 10:45 am EST.

Radar loop from Saturday, Mrach 12, 2022

Radar loop from Saturday, March 12, 2022. The cold front and squall line swept across the area during the morning hours.

A weather balloon released and tracked by the Newport/Morehead City NWS office at 7 am Saturday morning recorded wind speeds of 67 mph just 2,000 feet above ground level. These strong winds aloft mixed down to to the surface, knocking down numerous trees and causing power outages across the Grand Strand and Cape Fear areas between 8 and 9 am.

A tornado watch was in effect Saturday morning for coastal portions of North and South Carolina. No reports of tornado touchdowns were received, but the squall line along the cold front brought another burst of damaging winds along with thunderstorms and briefly heavy rain.

The Brunswick County Sheriff's Office shared this picture of a tree down on U.S. Highway 74/76 shortly before 10 AM on Saturday, and also reported Saw Mill Rd and Old Lanville Rd were closed due to downed power lines.

Barefoot Marina on the ICW in North Myrtle Beach being hammered by high winds. Video via Katie Leos #scwx #ncwx pic.twitter.com/8gtMmimKrx
— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) March 12, 2022

Since deciduous trees had not yet leafed out, overall wind damage was less than would have occurred during summer thunderstorms. The relatively brief duration of the strong winds also helped prevent more damage.

The following table contains many of the peak wind gust reports gathered by the National Weather Service on Saturday.

Location	County	State	Gust (mph)
Frying Pan Tower (85 foot level)	offshore	NC	97
Federal Point (Weatherflow)	New Hanover	NC	77
Wrightsville Beach - Mercer Pier	New Hanover	NC	73
Oak Island (Weatherflow)	Brunswick	NC	72
Wilmington - Airport	New Hanover	NC	68
Winyah Bay (Weatherflow)	Georgetown	SC	67
Wilmington - Seagate	New Hanover	NC	66
Wilmington - UNC-Wilmington	New Hanover	NC	66
Frying Pan Shoals Buoy	offshore	NC	63
Wilmington - Myrtle Grove	New Hanover	NC	62
Murrells Inlet (Weatherflow)	Georgetown	SC	62
Myrtle Beach - Springmaid Pier	Horry	SC	59
Surf City Pier	Pender	NC	57
Myrtle Beach - Airport	Horry	SC	55
Bald Head Island - NC Econet	Brunswick	NC	54
North Myrtle Beach - Airport	Horry	SC	54
Lockwoods Folly Inlet (Weatherflow)	Brunswick	NC	52
Georgetown - Airport	Georgetown	SC	52
Sunny Point Military Terminal	Brunswick	NC	51
Wilmington - Kings Grant	New Hanover	NC	50
Holly Shelter Gameland	Pender	NC	49
Lumberton	Robeson	NC	49
Darlington County Jetport	Darlington	SC	48
Castle Hayne - NC Econet	New Hanover	NC	47
Ocean Isle Beach	Brunswick	NC	46
Little River	Horry	SC	46

Hourly Wind Gusts analyzed by the RTMA

Hourly Wind Gusts analyzed by the Real Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) system. This loop runs from 6:00 AM until Noon EST on Saturday March 12, 2022.

A more detailed list of local peak wind gust observations is available here: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSILM&e=202203121742

Cold air surged in behind the front and led to falling temperatures Saturday afternoon. A hard freeze occurred Saturday night into Sunday morning with temperatures measured in the upper 20s at the beaches and as cold as 21 degrees in Hartsville and 19 degrees in Kingstree, SC.

This was actually the second time this year where widespread strong winds have occurred across the eastern Carolinas. On January 3 a line of strong to severe thunderstorms developed along a cold front and produced numerous 50 to 60 mph wind gusts across the area.

Research & Page Author: Tim Armstrong
Last Updated: March 13, 2022