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F2 tornado in Frederick County, Virginia

Tornado September 17, 2004 · Frederick County, Virginia

Rating

5.0 mi

Path length

125 yd

Path width

$250K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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

An F2 tornado produced a nearly continuous path of damage for 5 miles in eastern Frederick County. It touched down west of Millwood Pike near the Winchester Airport. Three homes suffered roof damage, a detached two car garage was destroyed, a platform deck was blown away, an office trailer was overturned, and numerous trees along the track of the storm were uprooted or topped.

Began near Winchester Arpt (39.1667, -78.1667).

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 5425748. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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