Thunderstorm Wind — Vaz040, Virginia

1995-01-07 · near Hampton Roads, Vaz040, Virginia

Event narrative

A bow-echo type squall line raced through Norfolk early on the 7th, producing a microburst which caused significant damage at Norfolk Naval Air Station. Several eyewitnesses estimated the winds to be near 100 mph, although the official observation from the tower was 58 knots. A man walking between several carriers was blown 20 feet and sustained minor injuries. Some of the more significant damage included: windows blown out of 150 automobiles; an tractor-semitrailer was overturned; a modular trailer was blown 12 feet to the edge of Pier 12; seven brows on several carriers were blown down; and fences were blown down. On Willoughby Spit, a concrete block wall was destroyed at a Holiday Inn resort, where another seven automobiles had windows blown out. A neighboring condominium complex had qart of its porch destroyed. Seven utility poles were blown down, causing 2200 customers to lose power. In Hampton Roads, several trees were knocked down, some which damaged homes. Several automobile windows were blown out, and several homes suffered roof shingle damage. In the entire Tidewater region, just over 20,000 customers were without power immediately after the microburst struck. More than half of those were in the Norfolk/Chesapeake/Virginia Beach vicinity.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 10352909. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.