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F1 tornado in James City, Virginia

Tornado August 6, 1993 · James City, Virginia

Rating

12.0 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.0M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

At about 1510 EDT a tornado hit the south part of Newport News. It moved northeast across the south part of the city and across the south part of Hampton. It knocked down numerous trees, damaged many homes and injured eight people in Newport News and two in Hampton. A reported 163 homes were damaged in Newport News, with costs at approximately $1.2 million. Approximately 85 homes were damaged in Hampton estimated cost about $700,000.

Began near Newport News (36.9800, -76.4200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10356562. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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