F0 tornado, Bowman, Virginia, August 9, 2000

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

August 9, 2000

Touchdown

4:00 PM EDT (20:00 UTC)

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

10 yards (9 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1,000

County

Shenandoah County

Touchdown point

38.800, -78.580

Lift-off point

38.800, -78.580

Record number

1037

A cold front moved across the region on the evening of the 9th. Thunderstorms that developed ahead and along the front produced winds in excess of 55 MPH, hail, frequent lightning, and isolated tornadoes. In Highland County, trees were downed in Monterey and across the county. A lightning fire destroyed a barn on Route 637 near Blue Grass. In Augusta County, several trees were downed and structures were damaged by high wind. A wind gust of 65 MPH was recorded in Staunton. Eight trees were downed onto city roads and seven trees were downed onto a golf course. One downed tree damaged a brick wall at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace. Windows were blown out on two buildings and the roof of an apartment building was damaged. In Stuarts Draft, a downed tree damaged a house and a tractor and high wind removed the aluminum roof from a barn. In Waynesboro, trees and power lines were downed. In Rockingham County, trees and power lines were downed in Timberville, Elkton, Keezletown, and Rawley Springs. Some trees were felled across roads and one tree fell onto a car in Keezletown. Hail fell in Timberville. In Shenandoah County, an F0 tornado briefly touched down on property adjacent to Red Bank Road near Bowman's Crossing. The 15 yard wide twister started by sucking up water on the banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. Next, it moved onshore and traveled north for two tenths of a mile. It downed or snapped five trees and flattened part of a corn field before dissipating. Straight line winds downed trees and power lines near New Market and Mt. Jackson. A wind gust of 42 MPH was recorded in Edinburg and hail fell in New Market. In Rappahannock County, trees were downed in Sperryville. In Page County, downed trees and power lines blocked roads in Stanley. A wind gust of 41 MPH was recorded in Luray where a downed tree punctures the roof of a house. In Albemarle County, several trees were downed. In Greene County, trees were downed in Standardsville. In Culpeper, trees were downed in Culpeper. In Madison County, an F1 tornado touched down just east of Madison. The 50 yard wide twister was on the ground for one half mile and caused nearly $15,000 in damage. It downed trees onto houses and one tree punched a hole into a roof. Two cars were hit by fallen trees and a barn was damaged. Straight line winds downed trees in Etlan and Madison. In Orange County, a wind gust of 45 MPH was recorded at the Orange County Airport. Trees and power lines were downed in Orange. In Frederick County, several trees and 20 power lines were downed from Hayfield to Shawneeland. Several roads were blocked by felled trees. Two houses were damaged by downed trees in Shawneeland. A barn roof and side were blown apart near Hayfield. Dime sized hail fell in Stephenson and Winchester. A tree was downed onto a power line on Amherst Street and lightning started an attic fire in Winchester where a wind gust of 40 MPH was recorded. Abrams Creek overflowed its banks in Winchester after one half inch of rain fell in 20 minutes. In Warren County, trees and power lines were downed in Warrenton and at the Warren County Airport. In Loudoun County, a wind gust of 66 MPH was recorded at the National Weather Service office on the north grounds of Dulles International Airport. In Fairfax County, downed trees were concentrated in the Centreville and Clifton areas. In Manassas, trees and power lines were downed and picnic tables and concession tents were damaged at an amusement park. In Stafford County, trees were downed in and near White Oak, Mountain View, and Widewater. A wind gust of 46 MPH was recorded at the Fredericksburg Airport.

A 15 yard wide tornado briefly touched down on the banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River near Bowman's Crossing. It downed trees and corn as it traveled north for two tenths of a mile.

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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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.

Grant_county_airport (W99), 54 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:58 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 2000 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

7 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.