EF2 tornado in Chesapeake (c) County, Virginia

Tornado March 31, 2017 · Chesapeake (c) County, Virginia

EF2

Rating

8.9 mi

Whole path

350 yd

Path width

$7.9M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Chesapeake (c) County → Virginia Beach (c) County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 350 yards (0.20 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

NWS storm survey determined that an EF0 tornado first touched down on Green Tree Road in Chesapeake causing damage to three warehouses. The tornado then quickly lifted off the ground and continued east. The tornado touched down again just east of Kempsville Road along Kemp Bridge Lane as an EF0 rapidly intensifying to EF1. On the east side of Kemp Bridge Lane, several homes lost sections of their roofs and outer walls were removed. Winds were approximately 97 mph. The tornado intensified as it moved east destroying a single wide mobile home (which was empty at the time, used as a work building) and severely damaged a metal storage building. The tornado at this point was approaching EF2 intensity. The tornado strengthened to an EF2 (120 mph) before striking the Real Life Christian Church on Centerville Turnpike. The church, a large metal constructed building, was destroyed by the tornado as the sanctuary was completely demolished. The tornado weakened some as it continued to travel east and then northeast across Stumpy Lake. The tornado then tracked northeast into Virginia Beach.

The wider storm

Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of low pressure and a cold front produced damaging winds, large hail, and two tornadoes across portions of southeast Virginia.

Began near Oak Grove (36.7400, -76.2300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Suffolk (c) County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 686663. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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