EF3 Tornado — Suffolk (c), Virginia

2008-04-28 · near Lummis, Suffolk (c), Virginia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down with damage first noted about 2 miles northeast of Lummis. The tornado crossed Route 58, downing trees as it moved northeast. The tornado strengthened just south of the intersection of Route 10 AND Route 58, where it damaged several homes and an elementary school as well as downing numerous trees. The intense tornado crossed Route 58 again and then Route 10 before hitting the Freedom Plaza shopping center where it destroyed a strip mall and tossed around numerous cars. One car was impaled into a building adjacent to the strip mall.

Thereafter, the tornado moved into 2 subdivisions east and northeast of Obici Hospital. Many homes were damaged with at least a dozen completely destroyed. The tornado then continued into Driver where it damaged a number of homes and businesses and downed numeroud trees.

The tornado then appeared to lift just north of Driver, although amateur video and pictures suggested that the tornado maintained close contact with the ground as it tracked northeast across northern portions of Portsmouth to the Norfolk Naval Air Station.

Wider weather episode

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

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.7102, -76.6872)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 97519. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.