REIDSVILLE, N.C. -- Michael hit the city of Reidsville hard on Thursday with widespread damage, but reports of a tornado can't be confirmed. The National Weather Service hit the ground on Friday to investigate the damage.
They found numerous downed trees, which were largely pointing in the same direction; to the south. With tornadoes, damage is usually in more of a swirling motion, with trees pointing in multiple direction.
The strength of the winds was extreme. NWS employees estimate the winds were as high as 80 mph.
NWS says numerous trees were found uprooted and generally blown down in a southerly direction with a divergent pattern, and over a broken path from just northwest of Reidsville to the west side of the city of Reidsville.
The discontinuous path of damage was about five miles in length.
NWS says the straight line wind damage happened between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. NWS says there was at least one eyewitness account that believed they saw a tornado, but the evidence of the damage did not support this.
NWS says damage from a tornado often appears more chaotic, with large uprooted trees crossing each other, rather than falling in one direction.
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