F0 tornado, Shirlington, Virginia, May 25, 1997

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

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

2. F173 to 112 mph

   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

F0

Date

May 25, 1997

Touchdown

5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)

Path length

1.0 miles (1.6 km)

Path width

73 yards (67 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Arlington County

Touchdown point

38.830, -77.080

Lift-off point

38.830, -77.080

Record number

178

A small, brief tornado, packing winds up to 70 mph, knocked down between 75 and 100 trees and limbs, some of which fell onto residences, vehicles, and other property in South Arlington. Scattered structural damage included aluminum siding, gutters, shingles, and plastic facia.The tornado began near the fire house, where personnel reported a shed was moved and numerous plastic bags were sucked into the air. At least one large silver maple tree was damaged. More serious damage ensued about 1/4 mile east, where the tornado tracked down a hillside. A large oak split in two, with one of the limbs crashing onto a home on Kenmore St, causing substantial damage. One electrical wire was blown down. Much of the shingle, siding, and gutter damage occurred between Lowell St. and the intersection of Shirlington Blvd. and Glebe Road.Damage at the intersection included at least ten trees and large limbs that were snapped, with one shallow-rooted tree uprooted and leaning on a residence. That same home had two windows blown out. Two persons at this location witnessed the tornado; the funnel cloud was also seen by the National Airport (DCA) tower, just 3 miles to the east. The storm continued across Glebe Road, knocking down several large poplar tree limbs. At a residence on Fillmore St., a home sustained minor damage from a portion of a large pine tree which fell against its side wall and roof. Several nearby trees and large limbs were also felled.The twister continued into the Army/Navy Country Club golf course, where it knocked down or snapped an estimated 50 to 60 tree limbs, some up to 2 feet in diameter. Estimated damages at the course were around $50,000. The funnel lifted moments later.******************************************Tropical moisture feeding along south-moving cold front produced training thunderstorms over portions of the Washington Metropolitan region during the late evening of the 25th. In general, between 3 and 4 inches of rain fell throughout the event, with at least 2 inches falling just prior to the frontal passage around midnight. One spotter in Vienna reported a grand total of 4.65 inches of rain. The rapid accumulation of water swelled area creeks and streams, and closed several roads for a time. Numerous basements were flooded, a result of broken lines or clogged pipes that were not quite ready to handle the first heavy rainfall of the season.

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.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:51 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.

Washington/National (DCA), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:50 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

52 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.