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EF1 tornado in Smyth County, Virginia

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Smyth County, Virginia

EF1
Rating
0.4 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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

A brief tornado with winds estimated up to 100 MPH touched down in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, mainly cutting through the Grindstone Campground. At least 200 trees were snapped at the trunk or uprooted and a bath house was damaged.

The wider storm

Widespread severe weather impacted the area. A strong upper level trough approaching from the west provided strong winds aloft, and a weak upper level low pressure system moved across during the afternoon hours setting off scattered thunderstorms. These storms quickly became severe. In total, there were 6 tornadoes with numerous reports of damaging winds and large hail. Heavy rainfall from these storms also caused scattered flash flooding.

Began near Thomas Bridge (36.6840, -81.5410).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Halifax County 1 deadEF2 Smyth CountyEF0 Botetourt County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 304304. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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