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EF1 tornado in Washington County, Virginia

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Washington County, Virginia

EF1

Rating

0.5 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$50K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

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 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

Green Cove Tornado. A NWS Storm Survey reported an EF1 tornado touched down near Green Cove on the Virginia Creeper Trail. It had a path width of 200 yards and a path length of 0.5 miles. The max wind of 90 mph downed numerous trees.

The wider storm

Favorable atmospheric conditions resulted in a deadly tornado outbreak across southwest Virginia on the 27th. The tornadoes produced from light to heavy damage to many homes and businesses across southeast Virginia. The thunderstorms produced 4 tornadoes across the area along with 4 deaths and 50 injured.

Began near Green Cove (36.6150, -81.6640).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Washington County 4 dead EF1 Washington County EF0 Washington County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 301186. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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