EF0 Tornado — Loudoun, Virginia
2020-02-07 · near Woodburn, Loudoun, Virginia
Event narrative
Staff from NOAA's National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather
Forecast Office located in Sterling, VA performed a survey of
storm damage that occurred in the Town of Leesburg, VA on the
morning of February 7, 2020. This survey, coupled with radar
analysis from the KLWX WSR-88D and the FAA's TIAD Terminal Doppler
Weather Radar, concluded that a tornado rated EF0 on the Enhanced
Fujita Scale impacted the Town of Leesburg between 7:20 AM EST
and 7:23 AM EST. The tornado had a path length of 3.3 miles
producing intermittent damage, with a path width of up to 250
yards. The tornado was moving northeast at approximately 60 mph.
The first damage was reported in the Greenway Farm and Linden Hill
subdivision in SW Leesburg. Here numerous large tree limbs were
downed along with several trees completely uprooted. The damage
was determined to be concentrated between Lawford Drive and
Nickels Drive in a wooded area, and also along Governors Drive and
Country Club Drive. TIAD radar was showing a rotational signature
beginning at 7:20 AM in these locations. Wind gusts in this area
were estimated to be 65 MPH from radar analysis and damage
indicators.
The tornado then lifted over Route 7, with just some minor tree
damage noted in the 800 block of Davis Court SE. The historic
downtown portion of the Town of Leesburg, near King and Market
Streets, was spared with just minimal damage. The only noteworthy
damage that was observed was tree damage along Monroe Street.
As the tornado moved into NE Leesburg, both the radar and the
storm survey indicated that it became much stronger. Two areas of
widespread, concentrated tree damage were found. The first one
was in the vicinity of Lounsberry Road NE and the Exeter
Subdivision; which are north of Edwards Ferry Road and south of
Battlefield Parkway NE. A townhome on Ginger Square NE had its
siding and underlayment completely peeled off, exposing it's roof
trusses. Many homes along Marshall Drive NE also had roofing
damage, along with trees uprooted and large branches downed. One
house had lawn furniture lifted and blown in the opposite
direction of the way the trees were fallen and debris was
plastered on cars and homes. Damage was noted spanning the 500 and
600 blocks of Marshall Drive NE, which supports the damage width
estimate of 250 yards.
The other area of concentrated wind damage was north of
Battlefield Parkway NE, in and around the Fieldstone Apartment
complex. Here, fifteen to twenty 1.5-2.0 foot diameter pines were
uprooted. Of special note was a line of 5 large pine trees in the
easternmost portion of the apartment complex which were uprooted
and which fell onto two unoccupied vehicles. Several of these
trees did fall in a convergent pattern. Additional large pine
trees were uprooted along the US Route 15 Leesburg Bypass near its
intersection with Battlefield Parkway NE.
Analysis from TIAD radar showed velocity measurements up to 77
knots at approximately 210 feet above ground level as the tornado
was in the vicinity of the Fieldstone Apartments. Taking into
account some decrease in the wind's magnitude as it got closer to
ground level, along with the damage indicated in and around the
Fieldstone Apartments, corroborates estimated wind gusts of up to
85 mph.
The NWS Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office thanks the
Loudoun County Office of Emergency Management with providing
information supporting the storm survey.
Wider weather episode
An area of low pressure formed over the area in response to an impressive longwave trough approaching from the west. A line of low-topped showers and thunderstorms formed along the system's cold front, leading to instances of damaging winds and even a tornado in Leesburg within the high shear-low CAPE environment.
View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.0946, -77.5874)
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 878117. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.