Dust Devil — Henry, Virginia

2013-09-14 · near Bassett, Henry, Virginia

Event narrative

A dust devil lifted several large, tied-down canopy tents into the air. The canopies then dropped down onto a crowd of people. There were six minor injuries, with one person taken to the hospital.

Wider weather episode

Dry Canadian high pressure, centered over western Ohio to start the day, made its way across the mid Atlantic, resulting in clear skies, very light northeasterly winds and afternoon temperatures roughly 5 to 8 degrees below normal for mid-September for much of the region. The dust devil is thought to be the result of differential heating at the interface between different surface types.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.7599, -79.9983)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 473051. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.