F1 tornado, Wheatfield, Virginia, June 18, 1997

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F1

Date

June 18, 1997

Touchdown

4:20 PM EDT (20:20 UTC)

Path length

0.4 miles (0.6 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1,000

County

Shenandoah County

Touchdown point

39.050, -78.420

Lift-off point

39.050, -78.420

Record number

783

A rapidly developing heavy-precipitation supercell produced several instances of severe weather over portions of the northern Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions of Virginia during the late afternoon and evening of the 18th. Four small tornadoes were confirmed: one in northern Shenandoah Co near the town of Wheatfield, one in extreme southeast Frederick Co in the community of Double Tollgate, a third in Clarke Co near the town of Berryville, and a fourth in Loudoun Co between Mountville and Oatlands.Damage in Wheatfield was confined to a heavily wooded rural area, where 20 trees were snapped or uprooted along a narrow but distinctive path. Winds were estimated to be around 80 mph. It was the first tornado ever reported in the county; perhaps partially due to a NWS survey team locating the damage. The twister lifted along the county line, later seen as a funnel near Stephens City (Frederick Co) before dissipating. The second small tornado touched down east of Klines Corner in southeast Frederick Co. Five trees were downed on one farm, and damage was spotty along a 3-mile path to Double Church Road just southwest of Double Tollgate. A spotter had previously reported a touchdown near this area. Most of the damage was to trees, though some minor roof and fence damage was observed along and near Double Church Road.In Clarke Co, a third tornado touched down just south of Berryville. Minor damage was noted to a roof and shingles at a house; an electric garage door was damaged as well. A circular pattern was noted in the tall grass and in branches that had broken off nearby trees. Some tomato stakes and cages were pulled up and tossed. A fourth (small) tornado path was found from Mountville to Oatlands in western Loudoun Co. Large branches were snapped and some trees were uprooted on a narrow path along Lime Kiln Road.Scattered tree damage was noted elsewhere across the six-county area, including the towns of Reliance (Warren Co), Middletown and Stephens City (Frederick Co), Upperville (Fauquier Co), White Post and Berrys (Clarke Co), and from Middleburg to Arcola (Loudoun).Farther east, a steel-framed fire hall, still under construction, collapsed when a near-severe thunderstorm wind gust passed through Sterling (Loudoun Co). Approximately 150 wooden trusses supporting the frame initially fell. A home in the nearby Cascades subdivision had a deck collapse. However, the deck was found to have been improperly anchored to the ground (e.g., not according to specifications). Based on the above evidence, and the fact that only two small trees were reported down near the fire center, wind speeds were estimated to be just under severe criteria.Lightning struck and killed two horses at a farm just north of Unison. Earlier, lightning struck a home in Stephens City, causing $60,000 in structural damage, mainly to the roof.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 11:57 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1997 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.