Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2004

F0 tornado, Clinchport, Virginia, May 26, 2004

This F0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Scott County on May 26, 2004, touching down at 5:45 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
May 26, 2004
Touchdown
5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC)
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Scott County
Touchdown point
36.630, -82.750
Lift-off point
36.650, -82.730
Record number
108

What the Weather Service recorded

An F0 tornado touched down in Scott County two miles south of Clinchport around 545 pm EDT and traveled one half mile east. The tornado was 50 yards wide and the only damage observed was to trees and some minor roof damage along CR 627.

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

The warnings

22 minutes of warning. NWS MRX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:23 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:12 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRX
21:23 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningMRX

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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 air that afternoon

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.

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 12:00Z

9.8 hours before the tornado, 262 km from the path. May 26, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 266 joules per kilogram, CIN -124, lifted condensation level 1644 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -32 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
266 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-124 J/kg
Surface CAPE
656 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 00:00Z

2.2 hours after it, 262 km from the path. May 27, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2004-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 946 joules per kilogram, CIN -32, lifted condensation level 1550 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2004-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
946 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2123 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
5.3
0-3 km lapse rate
7.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Bristol/Tri-City (TRI), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:53 UTC8165240° 13 kt1010.5
20:53 UTC7965250° 12 kt1010.2
21:21 UTC78.864.4230° 16 kt231010.5-TSRA
21:53 UTC7268240° 31 kt441012.2+TSRA FG
22:02 UTC66.262.6280° 15 kt441012.2-TSRA BR
22:53 UTC6662240° 4 kt1012.5RA BR

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

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:44 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGBig Stone GapWise, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN COUNTYWIDE.
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGNortonCity of Norton, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN COUNTYWIDE.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG23 W Gate CityLee, VASEVERAL TREES DOWN IN THE FAIRVIEW AREA.
21:30 UTCTORNADO8 Ese Rose HillLee, VAPOSSIBLE TORNADO 0.7 MILES SOUTH OF ROUTE 58. A SMALL BUILDING THROWN ON TOP OF A MOBILE HOME, SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND SEVERAL VEHICLES DAMAGED. REPORTED BY VIRGINIA EOC.
21:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 W Gate CityScott, VAHOME DAMAGED WITH HOLE IN ROOF AND PORCH COLLAPSE NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF DANIEL BOONE.
21:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGGate CityScott, VANUMEROUS LARGE TREES DOWN AND POWERLINES DOWN COUNTYWIDE.
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGBristol VaCity of Bristol, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN CITYWIDE. REPORTED BY BRISTOL VIRGINIA - POLICE DEPARTMENT.
22:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGBristol VaCity of Bristol, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN CITYWIDE. REPORTED BY BRISTOL PD.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 26, 2004

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 263:35 AM EDTF0Lee, VA0.550$10,000
May 265:04 PM EDTF1Lee, VA1.550$30,000
May 265:30 PM EDTF1Hawkins, TN2.050$30,000
May 267:08 PM CDTF0Fisher, TX0.120
May 267:10 PM CDTF0Fisher, TX0.120
May 267:37 PM CDTF0Noble, OK3.0200$30,000
May 268:59 PM CDTF1Osage, OK1.0100$10,000
May 269:15 PM CDTF1Linn, KS5.54002$70,000
May 269:50 PM CDTF0Bates, MO1.025
May 2610:20 PM CDTF2St. Clair, MO12.02001$500,000

What this means

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.

Sources

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