EF2 Tornado — Rockingham, Virginia

2011-04-28 · near Genoa, Rockingham, Virginia

Event narrative

The tornado tore roofs from barns and homes. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped along its path. A mobile home was also decimated. The tornado path continued into Shenandoah County.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front slowly passed through the region during the morning and early afternoon hours of the 28th. A southerly flow ahead of the front caused deep moisture over the area. The deep moisture combined with a mid-level trough to produce moderate amounts of instability. The cold front combined with the instability to trigger showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms were able to mix down strong winds from aloft.

Low level wind speed and direction changed rapidly with height causing tornadoes to develop in some of the stronger thunderstorms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.6540, -78.9620)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 302227. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.