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EF1 tornado in Lee County, Virginia

Tornado May 16, 2023 · Lee County, Virginia

EF1

Rating

0.1 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A small tornado path was surveyed in eastern Lee County,

Virginia, approximately 3 miles west-southwest of Pennington Gap

along Poor Valley Ridge near Left Poor Valley Road. Hardwood trees were snapped in a short path following the ridgeline parallel to Left Poor Valley Road.

The wider storm

A weak trough brought severe straight line winds and weak tornadoes embedded in a line of severe thunderstorms.

Began near Ben Hur (36.7400, -83.0900).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Lee County EF1 Scott County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1099586. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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