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F1 tornado in Loudoun County, Virginia

Tornado September 17, 2004 · Loudoun County, Virginia

Rating

12.0 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$500K

Damage as recorded

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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 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 western Loudoun County. This storm was a continuation of a track of the storm that moved through Fauquier County Virginia. The storm first touched down south of Hamilton and, intermittent damage was noted from Hamilton to Lovettsville. A farm near Hamilton suffered severe damage. The farmhouse, horse barn and outbuildings were severely damaged or demolished. Two thoroughbred horses were cut by flying debris. The tornado produced damage along a 12 mile track. This storm continued to travel north into Maryland and produced damage in extreme southwest Frederick and eastern Washington Counties.

Began near Hamilton (39.0833, -77.6500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5425418. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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