EF3 Tornado — Franklin, Virginia

2019-04-19 · near Snydersville, Franklin, Virginia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down just to the north of Oak Level. It then moved northeastward, significantly damaging three structures while heavily damaging or destroying ten outbuildings. The tornado reached a peak intensity of EF-3 near Windy Ridge Road and again near Sealtest Lane. The tornado eventually dissipated to the east of Henry Fork, four miles southeast of Rocky Mount, just short of Doe Run Road. Two individuals received minor injuries due to the tornado. One of the fallen trees landed on a house and a car. Damage values are estimated.

Wider weather episode

A strong area of low pressure moved from the Mississippi Valley into the Tennessee Valley. The atmosphere in advance of this system was ripe for the development of rotating thunderstorms. Some of these storms produced damaging winds. However, two thunderstorms increased in enough rotational intensity to generate tornadoes. An EF3 Tornado occurred in Franklin County and an EF1 tornado occurred in Bedford County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.8564, -79.8906)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 820690. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.