EF1 Tornado — Colonial Heights (c), Virginia

2008-04-28 · near Colonial Hgts, Colonial Heights (c), Virginia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down in spots beginning near the end of the football field near Colonial Heights Middle School. The tornado then continued across Interstate 95 and into the Dimmock Square shopping center. The first of the damage was to a football field clubhouse as a part of the roof was blown off. The storm then lifted across an area of homes and touched down again just west of the interstate and tearing a path through the roof of the Medallion Pools building. Twisted metal was strewn across the parking lot with a few cars damaged from the flying debris. The tornado lifted again across I-95 scattering debris across the Southgate Square parking lot, including a half-ton air conditioning unit blown approximately 300 yards and deposited in front of the Helzberg Diamonds business near SouthPark Boulevard.

The most significant damage occurred with the final touchdown in the Dimmock Square Strip mall. A string of 4 stores around 75-80 yards in width had ceiling tiles blwon out, roof peeled off and windows blown out. Several cars were damaged as some had windows shattered from flying debris. Other vehicles were flipped and tossed about in piles. The storm appeared to lift again, but there was damage to a bank and light poles blown down in a car lot approximately 50 to 100 yards east of Dimmock Square. Cars were also damaged here from the flying debris.

The tornado then lifted and crossed Temple Avenue into Prince George County.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms in advance of a cold front produced numerous tornadoes across central and eastern Virginia.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2444, -77.3977)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 97254. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.