EF1 Tornado — Pulaski, Virginia

2011-04-08 · near Draper, Pulaski, Virginia

Event narrative

The tornado touched down on Highway 11 near the National Guard Armory. It then tracked southeast, with intermittent damage over a wooded area. More continuous damage was then observed as it crossed Interstate 81 at Draper near exit 92. In this area, there was significant damage to a gas station and many homes. One mobile home was completely destroyed and numerous trees were snapped off. The tornado lifted as it moved up a small ridge about 1.5 miles southeast of Old Baltimore Road.

Wider weather episode

A high pressure centered over New England helped push a back door cold front to the vicinity of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Warm and unstable air in advance of this front, combined with an upper level low pressure system, resulted in the development of severe thunderstorms along the front. The strongest storms occurred right along the boundary, where two tornadoes hit Pulaski County. These two tornadoes were the first documented in Pulaski County since records began in 1950.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.0280, -80.7740)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 300159. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.