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EF2 tornado in Stafford County, Virginia

Tornado May 8, 2008 · Stafford County, Virginia

EF2

Rating

3.4 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

$10.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An NWS Storm Survey determined that a low-end EF2 tornado struck the England Run North subdivision in Berea. The tornado damage began just south of Route 17 in Berea. There were 160 home damaged and nearly destroyed in the England Run subdivision, with 25 categorized as uninhabitable. The storm continued northeast, damaging buildings at a FedEx facility.

The wider storm

A strong low pressure system crossed the Mid Atlantic during the afternoon and evening hours of May 8th. This system along with warm temperatures and high dew points triggered numerous strong to severe showers and thunderstorms across the region. Two tornadoes occurred in central Virginia. Several storms produced damaging winds that downed trees and power lines in portions of northern and central Virginia. A few locations reported flooding as storms trained over the same area through the afternoon and evening.

Began near Berea (38.3612, -77.5225).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Nelson County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 98712. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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