EF0 tornado in Fairfax County, Virginia

A path of sporadic damage, mainly to trees, began just east

of Rock Hill Road in between the Dulles Greene and Capstone

apartment complexes in Herndon. About a half dozen trees here

were either snapped or uprooted in a convergent pattern. One of

the trees was thrown into the window of a nearby apartment

building.

The National Weather Service would like to thank Fairfax and Loudoun

County Emergency Management Agency and the residents interviewed

for their assistance in this survey.

The tornado continued north-northeast, where additional tree

damage was noted near the intersections of Summerfield Drive

and Autumn Breeze Court, and Sterling Road (VA-606) and

Herndon Parkway. Several trees were downed from east to west,

and fencing was blown down north to south.

It appears the tornado lifted briefly as it continued

north-northeast, before touching down again near the intersection

of Crestview Drive and Builders Road. Here, nearly a dozen trees

were snapped or uprooted, mainly to the north, with fencing

blown down towards the trees (to the west).

Cutoff low pressure was over the Ohio Valley. Another area of low pressure strengthened overhead on the occluded boundary. Warm and moist air from the south lead to an unstable atmosphere. Strong shear profiles were in place due to the cutoff low to the west. Strong lift associated with the developing low combined with strong shear and enough instability to produce severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes.