EF2 tornado in Halifax County, Virginia

The tornado with winds estimated up to 120 MPH entered Halifax County around 250 PM from Person County North Carolina. It entered as an EF2 and continued producing EF1 to EF2 damage all the way to Stuanton River State Park at the confluence of the Dan and Lower Roanoke Rivers. Four mobile homes were destroyed along its path in Virginia and one received major damage. Three stick built homes had major damage. Four other homes had minor damage with another four seeing minor impacts. There were also numerous outbuildings and sheds that were destroyed. Numerous trees were also destroyed, with an estimated 60 to 100 acres of trees destroyed within the Staunton River State Park. Winds were estimated to be up to 120 MPH with this tornado.

A strong closed upper level low pressure moved across the Ohio valley, producing a variety of extreme weather across southwest Virginia. In advance of this system,

strong southeast winds produced wind damage across the higher elevations. These southeast winds also provided strong upslope lifting along the Blue Ridge. This helped produce heavy rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches and areas of flash flooding. Enough heating occurred ahead of the cold front on the 16th to trigger severe thunderstorms along and east of the Blue Ridge, resulting in widespread thunderstorm wind damage and two tornadoes. Behind the storms, strong northwest winds knocked down many trees given the very wet soil conditions.