EF0 Tornado — Middlesex, Virginia

2025-11-09 · near Ruark, Middlesex, Virginia

Event narrative

A velocity enhancement from a severe storm crossing the Piankatank River likely formed a waterspout over the river before moving onshore of Bland Point in Deltaville around 935 PM EST. A large oak tree fell on and caused damage to a pool and pool furniture. As the tornado moved almost due east, it twisted and snapped several trees

and large branches. Some pine tree branches were blown into a nearby house, breaking two large windows and a wooden window frame. The wind was strong enough to embed small pine twigs and branches into the stucco siding of the house. Additionally, a picnic table at this property was broken into pieces and thrown roughly 20 to 30 feet. A patch of shingles was damaged from a garage attached to another house at the apex of Bland Point. At this location, a sliding glass door frame was pushed inward. Additionally, balcony furniture was pushed hard enough to bend and partially dislodge the metal railing on the second story. Just outside of the house, 20 heavy duty pool chairs, some made out of polywood and some made out of aluminum, were lofted and thrown around

40 yards. Most of the chairs were broken or shattered. Debris from the pool furniture was thrown hard enough to dent the bark of a pine tree more than 50 yards from the pool. At this point, it appeared that the tornado turned to the northeast, following the shoreline. The winds were strong enough to rip a large metal sheet attached to an in-ground pool cover off of the pool and throw it into 2000 pound marble pillars nearby with enough force to both bend the metal at nearly a 90 degree angle and knock over a couple pillars. To the southeast of the pillars, several wooden planks were blown off of a wooden dock. The tornado then tracked likely along or just offshore of the shoreline for around 220 yards, twisting and snapping several additional trees, before dissipating around 936 PM EST.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved east across eastern Virginia during the evening of November 9. A seasonally moist and unstable airmass was in place ahead of the cold front, allowing for locally strong to severe storms. One storm produced a waterspout which moved onshore as a tornado in Middlesex County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.5350, -76.3660)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1298689. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.