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F1 tornado in King George County, Virginia

Tornado May 7, 2004 · King George County, Virginia

F1
Rating
3.0 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$10K
Damage as recorded
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 F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado touched down in southeast King George County. The damage began just northwest of Shilohand the path continued southeast for approximately three miles. Many trees were topped, snapped and uprooted. Damage was intermittent, and the strongest damage occurred near the end of the tornado path.

The wider storm

A strong cold front move through the region on the 7th. Numerous showers and very strong thunderstormsaccompanied the front. The thunderstorms produced widespread damage in the Piedmont region of Northern Virginia. Significant damage was reported in northwest King George, east Stafford, and northeast Spotsylvania Counties. In King George County, an F1 tornado touched down near Shiloh. At least a dozen dwelling, and 10 boats were damaged. The boats were stored in dry dock in the Waugh Marina. Several trees were also uprooted or topped out along the storms three mile path. In Stafford County, 80 to 90 mph winds destroyed two homes caused major damage to twenty others. The Japazawas Subdivision Eastern Stafford County had about 40 felled trees. Three Amtrak trains were stalled between the Chatham area of Stafford and Fredericksburg due to downed trees and power lines. Finally, in the City of Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania County, the main stage at the re-enactment of the Battle of Spotsylvania collapsed due to strong winds. A number of tents and a couple of portable toilets were also blown over.

Began near Shiloh (38.2333, -77.1333).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5397432. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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